PRECIOUS-Gold steady near all-time high on econ worries

                                
   * Gold holds near record; SPDR holdings hit new high
                                
 * For the technical outlook on gold [ID:nSGE65H00U]
                                
 * Coming Up: U.S. ECRI weekly index; 1430 GMT
  (Updates prices, adds quotes)
                                
 By Lewa Pardomuan
                                
 SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) - Gold held steady near an
all-time high on Friday after a rise in physical gold holdings
supported by a weaker dollar and persistent worries about
Europe's fiscal outlook.
                                
 Holdings in the world's largest bullion-backed Exchange
Traded Fund rose for the first time in a week to a record as
investors built up positions due to uncertainty in the global
economy.
                                
 Spot gold <XAU=> rose as high as $1,248 an ounce in early
trade, lifted by the firming euro. Gold stood at $1,243.60 an
ounce at 0228 GMT, barely changed from New York's notional
close on Thursday.
                                
 Silver was steady, while platinum group metals edged down
alongside industrial base metals. [MET/L]
                                
 "I would expect a little bit of volatility in the week
ahead. But I don't, at this stage, see any reason why gold will
sell off, certainly not below $1,200," said Darren Heathcote,
head of trading at Investec Australia in Sydney.
                                
 "Looking at it technically, we could be aiming towards
$1,260, but on support side, probably somewhere around towards
$1,225-ish."
                                
 For a graphic showing gold's technical outlook, click on:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101806084651.jpg  
 Gold hit an intraday high around $1,250 on Thursday, coming
within sight of a record high of $1,251.20 struck June 8, when
investors poured money into gold due to worries the euro zone
debt crisis was spreading.
                                
 U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> fell $2.6 an
ounce to $1,246.1 an ounce.
                                
 The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD.P> said its holdings rose to a record high at
1,307.963 tonnes as of June 17 from 1,306.137 tonnes on June
10. [GOL/SPDR]
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                
 For a graphic on SPDR Gold holdings flow, click:
                                
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/GLD_SPDRVL0610.gif
                                
 For a graphic on total holdings on SPDR, click:
                                
 http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/10/GLD_SPDR0610.gif
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
                                
 Europe's fiscal problems are a risk that will have some
effect on U.S. growth during the rest of this year and 2011,
U.S. Federal Reserve vice chairman Donald Kohn said in an
interview with the Wall Street Journal. [ID:nNI1784453]
                                
 Traders said volumes were thin, making it easier to move
prices.
                                
 "I think the market is bit thin, so it's easy to push it
up. It's the same old story, ... the euro zone is still
struggling and the interest rates are low in many big nations,"
said a dealer in Hong Kong.
                                
 "There was light physical buying yesterday but we don't
hear anything now," the dealer said, referring to purchases
from jewelers.
                                
 The euro held steady near three-week highs on Friday, as
investors liquidated short positions after a robust response to
Spanish bond auctions, while the U.S. dollar appeared
vulnerable to a sell-off. [USD/]
                                
 U.S. data showed a decline in the Philadelphia Federal
Reserve's mid-Atlantic manufacturing index while there was a
rise in first-time jobless claims. [ID:nN17254724].
                                
 The Nikkei edged up 0.2 percent on Friday, climbing back
towards a one-month high hit earlier in the week after U.S.
stocks inched higher on momentum gained after the S&P 500 index
broke through its 200-day moving average. [.T] [.N]
                                
 U.S. crude futures extended losses on Friday as sluggish
economic indicators raised doubts about the sustainability of a
recent acceleration in demand growth by top oil consumer the
United States. [O/R]   
 Precious metals prices at 0228 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold        1243.60    0.20   +0.02     13.50
 Spot Silver        18.70    0.03   +0.16     11.11
 Spot Platinum    1573.00   -1.00   -0.06      7.23
 Spot Palladium    477.00   -2.50   -0.52     17.63
 TOCOM Gold       3645.00   12.00   +0.33     11.84       
26824
 TOCOM Platinum   4641.00  -10.00   -0.22      5.93        
8379
 TOCOM Silver       55.20    0.60   +1.10      6.77         
190
 TOCOM Palladium  1407.00   19.00   +1.37     20.77         
133
 Euro/Dollar       1.2389
 Dollar/Yen         90.90
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
 (Editing by Nick Trevethan)