feb 17 reuters  gold steadied on thursday near an eightmonth high touched earlier this week as the us dollar and treasury yields dipped on less hawkishthanfeared federal reserve minutes and as the ukraine crisis boosted demand for the safehaven metal  spot gold held its ground at 186836 per ounce as of 0123 gmt bullion had hit its highest level since june at 187948 on tuesday  us gold futures were steady at 187140  oil and gold prices rose on wednesday after nato and the united states said russia was increasing its troop buildup near ukraine while dovish fed minutes helped stocks close mostly flat on wall street read more  fed officials last month agreed that with inflation tightening its grip on the economy and employment strong it was time to raise interest rates but also that any decisions would depend on a meetingbymeeting analysis of inflation and other data according to the minutes of the jan 2526 policy meeting read more  the dollar eased after the minutes suggested policymakers are not set on a particular pace of interest rate hikes making gold more attractive to overseas buyers  a dip in us treasury yields decreased the opportunity cost of holding noninterestpaying bullion  us retail sales increased by the most in 10 months in january lifting the level of sales to a record high amid a surge in purchases of motor vehicles and other goods but higher prices could limit the boost to economic growth this quarter read more  among other precious metals spot silver was flat at 2354 per ounce and palladium rose 02 to 228419  platinum dipped 05 to 105653 easing off a threemonth high touched in the previous session reporting by bharat govind gautam in bengaluru editing by sherry jacobphillips