* Financial markets await outcome of Eurogroup meeting
* iShares silver ETF reports near 49-tonne inflow
(Updates prices)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold held near $1,100 an ounce on
Monday, lifted by concerns over the outlook for the currency
markets as traders wait to see whether a meeting of Eurogroup
ministers will result in more support for debt-laden Greece.
Spot gold <XAU=> was bid at $1,099.15 an ounce at 1450 GMT,
against $1,092.40 late in New York on Friday. U.S. gold futures
for April delivery <GCJ0> on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange rose $10.30 to $1,099.80 an ounce.
Gold priced in euros <XAUEUR=R> rose to a peak of 809.31
euros an ounce, just 0.4 percent below its record high of 812.43
euros an ounce set in December.
"You would hope gold would be doing well, given all the
problems in Greece, with government debts and so on," said VM
Group analyst Matthew Turner.
"The Greece crisis has been a bit overblown, but it is
still...causing nervousness among investors," he added. "The
solution to all these debt problems seem to be either
devaluation or inflation, both of which are gold supportive."
The euro steadied against the dollar near nine-month lows as
investors waited to see whether meetings of European finance
ministers would result in further support for Greece. []
Worries over the country's indebtedness kept the U.S. dollar
supported and weighed on the euro as the market sought perceived
safer assets.
The European Commission said on Monday it was asking Greece
to explain reports in the U.S. and German media that it engaged
some years ago in derivatives deals with U.S. investment banks
to cut its deficit and debt figures. []
Strength in the dollar usually weighs on gold, but when
fears over financial market stability are rising, both sometimes
benefit from risk aversion.
"Investors seem to be partly offloading euro-zone risk
equally in gold and the U.S. dollar," said Pradeep Unni, senior
analyst at Richcomm Global Services.
"This is specifically the reason why gold is firm despite
the greenback also being strong."
OIL HOLDS GROUND
Among other commodities, oil held near $74 on Monday after
stronger-than-expected Japanese growth data was counterbalanced
by concerns rising energy demand could be curbed by China's
moves to tighten monetary policy. []
Gold tends to track crude prices, as the metal can be bought
as a hedge against oil-led inflation.
On the physical markets, India's wholesale gold demand
cooled off on Monday as prices edged towards the most-watched
$1,100 an ounce mark, after offtake picked up for the most part
of last week, dealers said. []
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, were unchanged at 1,106.378
tonnes on Friday. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> was bid at $15.50
an ounce against $15.48.
The world's largest silver ETF, the iShares Silver Trust
<SLV>, said its holdings rose 48.84 tonnes or 0.5 percent from
the previous business day to 9,446.40 tonnes as of Feb. 12.
[]
ETF Securities said holdings of its ETFS Physical Silver
<PHAG.L> ETP hit a record high last week, reaching 25.3 million
ounces by Friday.
Platinum <XPT=> was at $1,511.50 an ounce against $1,512.50,
while palladium <XPD=> was at $415.50 against $414.50.
"We remain of the opinion that (palladium) prices below $400
an ounce provide good opportunities for industrial end-users to
cover some of their future requirements," said precious metals
house Heraeus in a weekly report.
(Editing by Keiron Henderson)
