* Gold supported by safe-haven demand despite dollar rise
* Markets eye ECB, BoE rates decisions, U.S. jobs data
* iShares Silver Trust rises another 1 pct to record
(Recasts, updates with quotes, closing prices, adds NEW YORK
to dateline)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Gold climbed above $900
an ounce Wednesday on economic worries amid a global financial
crisis as the bullion market awaited direction from a raft of
financial news due later in the week.
"People are worried about the inflationary actions that the
central banks are taking to restore liquidity and get the
economy moving again. They are dumping these paper currencies
and heading for anything that they can find is safe," said Tom
Dyson, editor at DailyWealth.com.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $903.35 an ounce at 2:24 p.m. EST
(1924 GMT), up 0.3 percent from the last trade $900.40 an ounce
in New York late on Tuesday.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ9> settled up
$9.70, or 1.1 percent, at $902.20 an ounce on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For gold, risk aversion is likely to provide significant
support for the precious metal.
"Gold is a natural place for people to turn to in these
times, when assets such as mortgage backed securities, that
were regarded as ultra-safe 18 months ago, have turned out to
be anything but," said Evy Hambro, manager of BlackRock's World
Gold and World Mining funds.
Demand for gold as a safe store of value has surged
recently as other assets have become increasingly volatile.
Physical bullion in the form of coins and bars and gold-backed
exchange traded funds have proved popular with investors.
The world's largest gold-backed ETF, the SPDR Gold Trust
<GLD.N>, said its holdings held at a record 853.37 tonnes on
Tuesday, up more than 9 percent from Jan 2.
The market is awaiting interest rates announcements from
European central banks on Thursday and key U.S. jobs data on
Friday for new direction, but remains supported by demand for
gold as a safe store of value, analysts said.
Dresdner Kleinwort consultant Peter Fertig said while the
ECB is unlikely to cut rates, comments made at the press
conference after its rate-setting meeting "could surprise."
He added U.S. non-farm payrolls reports normally lead to
increased volatility in the foreign exchange markets, and could
have a significant impact on gold.
The dollar was higher versus the euro but declines in the
European currency began earlier with news of a downgrade in
Russian sovereign debt. []
Gold is likely to remain relatively rangebound until there
is fresh news, with the precious metal's failure to break above
$930 an ounce last week dampening some enthusiasm, traders
said.
WEAK JEWELRY BUYING
However, demand for gold jewelry in traditionally key
global centers such as India and the Middle East has been soft.
Traders said gold buying in India, the world's biggest gold
market, was slack.
Turkey also stopped importing gold bullion in January, as
increasing levels of gold scrap coming back onto the market
were enough to meet domestic demand. []
Elsewhere, Swiss bank UBS <UBSN.VX> lifted its 2009 average
gold price forecast to $1,000 an ounce from a previous price
view of $700, citing expected strong safe-haven demand.
It said it sees investment demand for the precious metal
doubling in 2009 compared with 2007. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> quoted at $12.51
an ounce, up 0.9 percent from its previous close of $12.40.
However, investment demand for silver remained strong.
Holdings of the iShares Silver Trust <SLV.A>, the world's
largest silver-backed ETF, rose another 77 tonnes to a record
on Feb 3.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $963.50 an ounce, up 0.4 percent
from its last finish $959.50, while palladium <XPD=> was at
$194.00 an ounce, up 1.3 percent from its previous close
$191.50on Tuesday.
(Editing by Christian Wiessner)
