* Gold ticks higher, holds near 3-month high
* Silver at highest since Jan, PGMs firm
* Coming Up: U.S. wholesale inventories for Feb; 1400 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, April 9 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on
Friday, hovering near a 3-month high hit the previous day,
while holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> struck a record on
safe-haven buying related to volatile currencies and the debt
problems of Greece.
Bullion, which was heading for its biggest weekly gain
since early January, has also benefited from expectations of
low interest rates in the United States, though a firm dollar
could still ignite selling. Gold in euro terms <XAUEUR=R> held
near a record.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,151.20 an ounce by 0159 GMT, up
$1.05 from New York's notional close on Thursday, when it rose
to as high as $1,153.65 an ounce, its strongest since
mid-January.
Gold, which was about 6 percent below a lifetime high above
$1,200 hit in early December of 2009, hovered well above the
closely watched 14- and 50-day moving averages.
"It's really a consolidation of the existing trend and some
additional impetus from the Greece situation," said Darren
Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia in Sydney,
referring to the gains.
"Until we get some more news, I think we're probably likely
to consolidate. We might not see much movement in the next few
days. Ultimately, we might have a little bit retracement before
moving higher."
A rise in ETF holdings to record reflected a steady
investors interest in gold. The world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings
hit an all-time high at 1,140.433 tonnes as of April 8,
surpassing an earlier record of 1,134.03 tonnes touched on June
1, 2009. []
COMEX June gold contract <GCM0> fell $1.3 to $1,151.6 an
ounce, having risen to its highest in almost three months on
Thursday.
The euro edged up on Friday as investors cut record-high
short positions, but the single currency is likely to stay on
the defensive as worries about debt-laden Greece simmer. []
The euro regained some footing after European Central Bank
chief Jean-Claude Trichet assured markets that a Greece default
was unlikely. For more on Trichet's remarks see
[].
Among other precious metals, thinly-traded silver <XAG=>
rose to its highest since mid-January, while platinum group
metals held near this week's highs.
Palladium has gained nearly 3 percent this week on
purchases by auto catalysts makers in Japan and investment
demand spurred by the prospects of a recovery in the global
auto sector, but some analysts remained cautious.
"From experience, any upward trend is marked by phases of
weaknesses and dips and we remain of the opinion that
industrial end-users should use such dips to cover some of
their future demand," Heraeus said in a weekly report.
"Here, for now one should not speculate on large drops, as
at $470, $440 and then again at $410 an ounce there is strong
technical support."
Platinum, which also rose nearly 3 percent this week, had
purely tracked its sister metal higher, with dealers in Japan
reporting an absence of physical buying from the industrial
sector.
Precious metals prices at 0159 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1151.20 1.05 +0.09 5.07
Spot Silver 18.08 0.04 +0.22 7.43
Spot Platinum 1710.50 -1.00 -0.06 16.60
Spot Palladium 502.75 1.25 +0.25 23.98
TOCOM Gold 3472.00 25.00 +0.73 6.54
38681
TOCOM Platinum 5145.00 39.00 +0.76 17.44
11900
TOCOM Silver 55.00 0.20 +0.36 6.38
206
TOCOM Palladium 1507.00 6.00 +0.40 29.36
289
Euro/Dollar 1.3358
Dollar/Yen 93.51
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
