* Uncertainty over euro zone debt, weak U.S. data in focus
* Safe-haven bid reignited by downbeat U.S. data
* Coming up: UK public finances, 0830 GMT on Friday
(Updates prices, comment. Updates byline, dateline.
Reledes.)
By Carole Vaporean and Amanda Cooper
NEW YORK/LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Gold bullion came just
short of its all-time high and U.S. gold futures ran up to
their highest close ever on Thursday on both concern over
Europe's credit problems and downbeat U.S. data which
encouraged a fresh sweep into safe-haven assets.
Euro strength also propelled gold's advance after European
ministers jointly backed the publication of so-called bank
"stress tests," along with a successful Spanish bond auction.
Spot gold <XAU=> advanced to $1,244.45 an ounce by 2:29
a.m. EDT (1829 GMT) from $1,229.60 an ounce late Wednesday. Its
session high reached $1,250.65 an ounce, just short of its
all-time peak at $1,251.20 hit on June 8.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> surged $18.20
to finish at $1,248.70 an ounce, its highest close on record.
"There's no consistency right now in terms of good news
coming out of the euro zone. And, because of that, it's making
investors feel a bit uncertain about going into riskier assets.
Gold is obviously a safe-haven asset to offset that," said Fred
Jheon, managing director of U.S. product development at ETF
Securities in San Francisco.
Euro's push to a three-week high against the dollar also
renewed gold buying among some investors who are seeking the
precious metal as a substitute currency.
"At the macro level, we're seeing central banks being net
buyers of gold versus being net sellers for the first time in
many years. So there's appetite at that level," said Jheon.
He added; "Investors are looking at the degradation of the
dollar or the euro and are saying, 'Rather than hold a fiat
currency, holding a hard currency like gold is a better
investment."
Fiat currency is a currency that is legal tender by
government fiat but has no fixed value against a hard asset
such as gold or silver.
The euro gained after a Spanish bond auction soothed
worries about the country's finances and worse-than-expected
U.S. data weighed on the dollar. []
"Gold is looking for any and every opportunity to go
higher, and we all know the reasons why--the safe-haven factor,
sovereign debt risks and so on," said Peter Hillyard, head of
metals sales at ANZ Investment Bank.
"The mood is with gold right now, the momentum is with gold
and the market will either do nothing or go up," he said.
Weaker U.S. economic data showing Mid-Atlantic factory
activity plummeted in June [] and a rise in the
number of U.S. workers filing for unemployment benefits last
week [] also drove anxious investors to return to
gold as a safety play.
NEAR RECORD
Concern investors have about some debt-laden euro zone
economies, such as Spain, has not receded.
The premium bond holders demand to own 10-year Spanish
government debt over benchmark German bunds hit a euro lifetime
high on Thursday, although an auction of Spanish 10-year bonds
attracted good demand. []
At a summit of EU ministers in Brussels, Germany joined
France and Spain in calling for the publication of bank stress
tests and leaders sought to play down Spain's problems and said
the country was not on the agenda. []
Interest in physical gold as an investment product kept
holdings of the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, at a record above 1,306
tonnes on Wednesday.
Spot silver <XAG=> rallied to $18.71 an ounce, up from
$18.40 an ounce late on Wednesday, but off earlier one-month
highs at $18.86 an ounce.
Platinum <XPT=> firmed to $1,574 an ounce, up from
$1,566.50 an ounce in late Wednesday trade, and palladium
<XPD=> moved up to $479.50 from $471.0 previously.
Prices at 2:32 p.m. CDT (2016 GMT)
LAST/ NET PCT YTD
CLOSE CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCQ0> 1248.70 18.20 1.5% 13.9%
US silver <SIN0> 18.776 0.335 0.0% 11.5%
US platinum <PLN0> 1572.00 4.50 0.3% 6.9%
US palladium <PAU0> 481.25 6.05 1.3% 17.7%
Gold <XAU=> 1245.05 15.45 1.3% 13.6%
Silver <XAG=> 18.69 0.29 1.6% 11.0%
Platinum <XPT=> 1572.50 6.00 0.4% 7.3%
Palladium <XPD=> 478.50 7.50 1.6% 18.0%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1245.00 10.50 0.9% 12.8%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 18.50 -1.00 -0.1% 8.9%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1577.00 12.00 0.8% 7.6%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 482.00 11.00 2.3% 19.9%
(Additional reporting by Jan Harvey;Editing by Sofina
Mirza-Reid )
