LONDON, April 22 : Gold rose on Tuesday on a weaker dollar and firm oil prices, and analysts said the metal was looking for a reason to break up through its recent trading range and towards record highs.

But investors were cautious after gold failed to hold above $950 an ounce. A recent sell-off also lowered market sentiment.

Spot gold rose as high as $921.50 an ounce and was quoted at $918.90/919.90 against $913.80/914.60 late in New York on Monday.

A weaker dollar is something that did push gold prices up, but apart from that we have relatively small price movements, said Michael Widmer, analyst at Lehman Brothers.

The market is a little bit uncertain as to where gold is going. We are trading in a very tight range and it’s hard to make any consistent trend. Gold at the moment just bounces around, he said.

The dollar slipped against the euro to hover near record lows, with investors awaiting US housing data at 1400 GMT for clearer direction.

A weaker dollar makes gold cheaper for holders of other currencies and often lifts bullion demand.

The market expects the Federal Reserve to lower rates further from the current 2.25 per cent at a policy meeting on April 29-30.—Reuters