(Refiles to refresh prices)
* 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 $1,100.50 an ounce at 2038 GMT,
against $1,092.40 in New York late on Friday. U.S. gold futures
for April delivery <GCJ0> on the COMEX division of the New York
Mercantile Exchange rose 1 percent to $1,100.80 an ounce.
Gold priced in euros <XAUEUR=R> rose to a peak of 809.50
euros an ounce, just 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 fell against the dollar, hovering 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
assets perceived as safer.
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 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 toward the most-watched
$1,100 an ounce mark, after offtake picked up for most of last
week, dealers said. []
Holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, were unchanged at 1,106.38
tonnes on Friday. []
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> was bid at
$15.52 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 flat at $1,512.50 an ounce while
palladium <XPD=> was at $418.50 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 James Jukwey, Gary Crosse)
