* Euro drops as Greek/German bond yield spreads widen
* Germany says has not committed to Greek financial aid
* Euro-priced gold hits record high at 868.26 euros/oz
* Coming up: Fed monetary policy meeting starts Tuesday
(Updates, adds comment, changes dateline from SINGAPORE)
By Jan Harvey
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Gold eased in Europe on Monday
as the euro weakened against the dollar, but lingering concern
over Greece's fiscal health supported the metal near $1,155 an
ounce, as it boosted its appeal as a haven from sovereign risk.
Spot gold <XAU=> hit a peak of $1,159.73 an ounce in earlier
trade, its highest since Apr. 15, and was at $1,154.05 an ounce
at 0947 GMT versus $1,155.90 late in New York on Friday.
U.S. gold futures for June delivery <GCM0> on the COMEX
division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $1.10 to
$1,154.80 an ounce.
The combination of risk-averse buying and euro weakness took
euro-priced gold <XAUEUR=R> to a record 868.26 euros an ounce.
The euro slipped on Monday as the spread between Greek and
German bond yields widened after Germany said it had not yet
committed to providing financial aid to Greece. []
While euro weakness would usually weigh heavily on gold,
other factors are supporting the precious metal, analysts said.
"Gold tends to attach itself fairly reliably to the euro
until there is something going on that causes a detachment,"
said Peter Hillyard, head of metals sales at ANZ Bank in London.
"Demand is coming from the investor community," he said. "It
is a view being held by many -- a technically held view, a
currency view, a Greek view if you like -- that $1,250 is where
this market is headed, probably between now and year-end."
Fears over the outlook for smaller euro zone economies like
Greece have pushed the euro 7 percent lower versus the dollar
this year, but gold is up 5 percent in the same period as
sovereign risk concerns have lifted interest in the metal as a
haven.
These worries are lingering, despite Greece's finance
minister saying on Sunday that aid from the EU and IMF would
arrive in time to avert what would be the euro zone's first
sovereign debt default. []
CLARITY SOUGHT
"The markets hope for clarity yet each step in this saga
seems to raise more questions than it answers," said Credit
Agricole in a note.
"Now that the question of when Greece will finally ask for
the emergency funding has been answered, we wonder instead when
the money will arrive, who it will be provided by, and will the
funding be available given the threat of legislative and
constitutional objectors?"
Markets are now awaiting the outcome of a two-day meeting of
the U.S. Federal Reserve starting Tuesday. The Fed is expected
to keep interest rates unchanged near zero and repeat its pledge
to keep them low for an extended period. []
Figures from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
showed net long positions in New York gold futures fell slightly
last week, but analysts say the drop was slight given the
strength of the rise in positioning earlier this month.
"While the metal has taken a step back from nearing the all
time positioning high, there is just 4.4 million ounces of a gap
to the Oct. 2009 record," said UBS analyst Edel Tully in a note.
"Considering how fast and furious buyers rushed into the
market in the first half of April and alongside the volatile
price action in the week to Apr. 20, it is somewhat comforting
that the net long exodus was contained at 0.8 million ounces."
Among other precious metals, silver <XAG=> was at $18.28 an
ounce against $18.27, platinum <XPT=> at $1,748.50 an ounce
against $1,740, and palladium <XPD=> at $567.50 against $562.50.
Platinum and palladium prices have both benefited this year
from a recovery in automotive demand, which accounts for around
half of global consumption of the metals.
(Reporting by Jan Harvey; Editing by Amanda Cooper)
