Gold steadied on Wednesday after trimming gains as the dollar gained ground against the euro, but analysts said the long-term bull trend remained intact and the metal still had $1,000 an ounce in its sights.

Spot gold <XAU=> rose as high as $968.50 an ounce on bargain hunting before falling to $963.10/963.80 at 1107 GMT, against $963.20/964.00 in New York late on Tuesday, when it fell nearly 2 percent with a decline in oil prices.

Though gold remained below Monday's record high of $989.30, analysts said it was still on track to hit $1,000, with oil prices hovering near an all-time high and the dollar's appeal declining on expectations of more U.S. rate cuts.

"The next move in gold really depends on what happens to the U.S. non-farm payrolls data. If it's much weaker than expected, the dollar would probably weaken and it would be definitely good for gold," said Walter De Wet, analyst at Standard Bank.

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"Longer term, gold is going to go up. The $1,000 level is a strong resistance level and the metal might make one or two attempts before it breaks it," he said.

The dollar gained ground against the euro and a basket of currencies, but was still close to record lows ahead of data that could derail sentiment about the world's biggest economy.

Weak readings from the Institute for Supply Management's index of service sector activity due later in the day and U.S. non-farm payrolls on Friday, would bolster the case for more sharp interest rate cuts to help stabilise the U.S. economy.

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