* Gold ticks higher on short covering
* For the technicals on gold, click: [
]* Coming Up: ECB rate decision, news conference; 1145 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 10 (Reuters) - Gold regained some footing on Thursday after being pressured by comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, but a firm stock market and steadier currencies are likely to cap gains.
Strong Chinese export data for May raised hopes for a global economic recovery and could weaken gold's safe-haven appeal, but there were also lingering fears the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis may be spreading.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,232.60 an ounce by 0254 GMT, up $2.25 from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it slipped after Bernanke said bullion was sending a different signal in response to inflation.
Gold struck a record at $1,251.20 on Tuesday after investors ditched the euro because of the debt crisis in Europe and uncertainties over the future of U.S. interest rates.
For a graphic showing the gold technical outlook, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101006093955.jpg "Gold is consolidating before testing higher again. The main drive is still the equity markets. If equities stabilise, then it might put presure on the metal," said a dealer in Hong Kong.
"But sentiment is still bullish because of gold's unique safe-haven status."
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> added $5.2 an ounce to $1,235.1 an ounce after falling more than 1 percent on Wednesday, partly due to Bernanke's comments. [
] The Nikkei firmed 0.3 percent on Thursday, shrugging off declines in Wall Street, as sentiment improved following better-than-expected Chinese exports. [ ] [ ]China's exports rose 48.5 percent in May from a year earlier and imports were up 48.3 percent, the General Administration of Customs said on Thursday, in line with the number leaked the previous day. [
]For more stories on the Chinese economy, click [
]"The good data should be good for risk taking. It should be positive on stocks and risk trades. If people are taking more risks, naturally they will come out of gold and go into stocks," said Wong Eng Soon, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
"On an intraday basis, there seems to be more downside risk right now."
The euro was steady on Thursday, albeit looking fragile near four-year lows against the dollar, while the Australian dollar extended gains on upbeat Australian employment data and China's confirmation of strong export figures. [
]U.S. crude futures gave ground on Thursday after climbing 3 percent a day earlier, hurt after Wall Street closed lower on falls in BP and other energy shares as the U.S. probe of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico intensified. [
] Precious metals prices at 0254 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1232.60 2.25 +0.18 12.49 Spot Silver 18.12 0.05 +0.28 7.66 Spot Platinum 1530.00 5.00 +0.33 4.29 Spot Palladium 449.00 1.50 +0.34 10.73 TOCOM Gold 3625.00 -24.00 -0.66 11.23 24261 TOCOM Platinum 4519.00 14.00 +0.31 3.15 7278 TOCOM Silver 53.60 -0.80 -1.47 3.68 265 TOCOM Palladium 1325.00 7.00 +0.53 13.73 118 Euro/Dollar 1.1973 Dollar/Yen 91.16 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Michael Urquhart)