LONDON, Feb 27: Gold backed away on Monday as some investors booked profits from a rally to a two-week high and a lower oil price added to selling pressure, dealers said.

Gold still attracted as a port in a storm following the attempted attack on an oil facility in Saudi Arabia on Friday, and the metal was expected to gain in the long term, they said.

Gold fell to $555.40/556.10 an ounce by 1028 GMT after rising as high as $558.75, compared with $558.60/559.50 in New York late on Friday when it rose almost 2 per cent.

Gold has been trading between a 25-year high of $574.60 an ounce hit on Feb. 2 and a 5-week low of $534.50 posted on Feb. 14.

Analysts said gold has not shown a clear trend after falling from its recent peak but the long-term sentiment was bullish.

The market continues to hold in the middle of the $535-$575 range that has held since early January, with the most recent price action suggesting a bias towards a move higher, rather than lower, within this trading band, Williamson, head of commodity research at HBC Bank, said in a daily note.—Reuters