dec 1 reuters  gold gained 1 on wednesday tracking a retreat in the dollar as investors used a pullback in the previous session to buy bullion as a hedge against wider market volatility amid concerns over the impact of the omicron coronavirus variant spot gold rose 09 to 178901 per ounce by 1036 am et 1536 gmt after falling as much as 09 on tuesday after federal reserve chair jerome powells remarks the central bank will discuss whether to end bond purchases earlier than expected in its december meeting read more concerns over the virus variant are supporting gold as fresh restrictions will slow the global economy with a weaker dollar also boosting demand for the safehaven metal said phillip streible chief market strategist at blue line futures in chicago but golds bounce came alongside a sharp rebound in equities even as the us imposed tougher covid19 testing rules for air travellers while more countries tightened borders read more there remains a bit of safehaven demand for the precious metals as there is still some uncertainty and anxiety in the marketplace said jim wyckoff senior analyst at kitco metals in a note on the technical front gold faced resistance around 179570 and then 180000 while support lay around 177500 and then this weeks low of 177120 the note added however the main narrative remains focused on what the fed will do and bullion could face pressure if fridays us employment data confirms the strengthening of the labour market said ricardo evangelista senior analyst at activtrades data on wednesday showed us private payrolls increased in november above reuters consensus forecast read more spot silver up 07 at 2265 per ounce platinum gained 18 to 95108 and palladium rose 02 to 173543 reporting by asha sistla ashitha shivaprasad and arundhati sarkar in bengaluru editing by shailesh kuber david evans and krishna chandra eluri