PRECIOUS-Gold firms near all time high; ETF holdings ease

                                
 SINGAPORE, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Gold firmed on Friday and held
near a record high struck the previous day, but a drop in ETF
holdings suggested some investors might be booking profits.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * Spot gold <XAU=> added $3.00 an ounce to $1,308.25 by
0046 GMT after hitting a lifetime high around $1,315 an ounce
on Thursday, racking up its eighth consecutive quarterly gain
as the U.S. Federal Reserve appeared ready to pump more cash in
the struggling economy.
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ0> fell $1.1
an ounce to $1,308.5 an ounce, having struck a record at
$1,317.50 on Thursday.
                                
 * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund,
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings eased to 1,304.776
tonnes by Sept 30 from 1,305.688 tonnes on Sept 28. The
holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 tonnes on June 29.
[GOL/SPDR]
                                
 * Silver <XAG=> was steady near a 30-year high, palladium
<XPD=> and platinum <XPT=> firmed, holding within sight of
their Thursday's peaks.
                                
 MARKET NEWS
                                
 * The euro paused below a five-month high on the dollar on
Friday and the greenback steadied after dropping to an
eight-month low against a basket of currencies the previous
day, with the market looking ahead to U.S. and Chinese data.
[USD/]    * Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.8 percent on Friday,
helped by short-covering after sharp falls the previous day and
after Wall Street wrapped up its best quarter in a year. [.T]
[.N]
                                
 DATA/EVENTS
                                
 GMT
  2330 Japan   CPI, core nationwide           Aug  
<JPCPI=ECI>
  2330 Japan   Unemployment rate              Aug  
<JPUNR=ECI>
  2330 Japan   Foreign reserves               Sep  
<JPRES=ECI>
  0000 Japan   Govt oil demand, trade data    Aug   
[O/JAPAN1]
  0100 China   NBS PMI                        Sep 
<CNPMIB=ECI>
  0500 India   HSBC Markit Mfg PMI            Sep  
<INPMI=ECI>
  0600 Germany Retail sales yy real           Aug 
<DERSLY=ECI>
  0743 Italy   Markit/ADACI Mfg PMI           Sep 
<ITRPMI=ECI>
  0753 Germany Markit/BME Mfg PMI             Sep 
<DEPMIM=ECI>
  0758 EZ      Markit Mfg PMI                 Sep  
<EUPMI=ECI>
  1200 Brazil  Industrial Output y/y          Aug  
<BRIOY=ECI>
  1230 U.S.    Personal Income                Aug  
<USGPY=ECI>
  1230 U.S.    Core PCE price index y/y       Aug  
<USCE2=ECI>
  1355 U.S.    Michigan sentiment index       Sep-F 
<USMN=ECI>
  1430 U.S.    ECRI index                     Wkly
<USECRI=ECI>
                                
::  U.S.    Vehicle sales                  Sep  
<USVEH=ECI>
                                
::  China   Public holiday
                                
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 Precious metals prices at 0046 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold        1308.25    3.00   +0.23     19.40
 Spot Silver        21.76    0.06   +0.28     29.29
 Spot Platinum    1661.00    9.85   +0.60     13.22
 Spot Palladium    567.00    3.07   +0.54     39.83
 TOCOM Gold       3520.00    1.00   +0.03      8.01       
18450
 TOCOM Platinum   4474.00   59.00   +1.34      2.12        
7757
 TOCOM Silver       58.60   -0.10   -0.17     13.35         
424
 TOCOM Palladium  1527.00   24.00   +1.60     31.07         
267
 Euro/Dollar       1.3656
 Dollar/Yen         83.47
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Lane)
 (lewa.pardomuan@thomson reuters.com; +65 6870 3834; Reuters
Messaging: lewa.pardomuan.reuters.com@reuters.net))