* Gold regains footing on short covering
* For technical report on gold; click [
]* Coming Up: U.S. May retail sales; 1230 GMT (Adds quotes; details)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Gold rebounded on short covering on Friday after falling around 1 percent in the previous session, while a rise in ETF holdings to another record showed bullion still attracted buying from investors.
But gold was at the mercy of movements in equity and currency markets, with rallies in shares likely to curb gains. Gold hit a lifetime high $1,251.20 earlier this week on fears the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis may spread.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,219.15 an ounce by 0547 GMT, up $3.35 from New York's notional close on Thursday, when it slipped after a rally in Wall Street curbed safe-haven demand.
For a graphic of the spot gold technical outlook, click: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101106083317.jpg
"I don't really see gold depreciating very soon to a great extent," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia in Sydney.
"But it wouldn't surprise me to see it ease back a little more if we see another couple of days of positive news in the stock market," he added.
U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> fell $1.3 an ounce to $1,220.9 an ounce, extending a drop on Thursday as gains in the euro eased fears about euro zone credit contagion.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, said its holdings rose to a lifetime high at 1,306.137 tonnes as of June 10. [
]Japan's benchmark Nikkei average <
> rose 2 percent on Friday after U.S. stocks posted their best day in the last nine on Thursday in response to signs of health in the euro debt market. [ ] [ ]"It's too difficult to say with any certainty that the market will go one way or the other, but certainly I would like to think that we are going to get a period of stability and probably see gold ease back a little bit," said Heathcote. "If it did, we'll probably be targeting somewhere down around the $1,175 area," said Heathcote, referring to a low seen in May.
The euro ran into headwinds above $1.21 on Friday, as profit-booking set in when it failed to push through hefty resistance, and investors took advantage of a lack of surprises in Chinese data to book gains in the Aussie dollar. [
]But some investors breathed a sigh of relief after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said three-month emergency loans to banks would continue until September and Germany's high court rejected efforts to block German guarantees for euro zone financial aid. [
] [ ] "There's a bit of bargain hunting but I think if we see more rebound in stocks, then gold will drift down," said a dealer in Hong Kong."I don't think there's buying from jewellers. People are also waiting for more clues, whether the euro will continue to stabilise."
Oil slid on Friday following data showing weaker-than-expected Chinese industrial output for May, though investor confidence in the country's growth helped prices hold above $75, headed for a weekly gain of 5 percent. [
] Precious metals prices at 0547 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1219.15 3.35 +0.28 11.27 Spot Silver 18.26 0.07 +0.38 8.50 Spot Platinum 1537.85 3.85 +0.25 4.83 Spot Palladium 448.90 -1.60 -0.36 10.70 TOCOM Gold 3599.00 -4.00 -0.11 10.43 34027 TOCOM Platinum 4566.00 61.00 +1.35 4.22 11925 TOCOM Silver 54.20 0.50 +0.93 4.84 229 TOCOM Palladium 1332.00 5.00 +0.38 14.33 168 Euro/Dollar 1.2108 Dollar/Yen 91.59 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)