PRECIOUS-Gold slide gathers pace; hits lowest since Jan

                                
 * Gold falls to lowest since late Jan at $864.30/oz
                                
 * SPDR gold ETF sees outflow; iShares Silver hits record
                                
 * Indian jewellery demand picks up as prices fall
                                
 * ETF Securities files to register platinum trust with SEC
                                
 
                                
 (recasts, adds quotes, updates prices)
                                
 By Jan Harvey and Veronica Brown
                                
 LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Gold slid more than 3 percent in
Europe on Monday with bearish momentum gathering pace as
investors liquidated some long positions and targeted key
support levels around $860.
                                
 Spot gold <XAU=> was quoted at $870.00/871.75 an ounce at
1517 GMT from $892.50 late in New York on Friday. The metal
earlier hit a low of $864.30, last seen in late January.
                                
 Accelerated selling came even as pressure from rallying
stock markets abated. Global share prices reversed course as
bank shares fell, snapping recent optimism on the health of the
financial sector.
                                
 But even though stock market sentiment has had a tight
correlation with bullion, weakness in the gold market proved
overwhelming.
                                
 "It's really a continuation of the trend from late March
where we popped above $950 very briefly. Since then we've been
going pretty much backwards," Mitsubishi analyst Tom Kendall
said.
                                
 "With the G20, talk of gold sales and the optimism that came
back into markets last week, there's been liquidation from
various quarters," he added.
                                
 Industrial commodity prices dipped in league with falling
stocks, with copper retreating from an earlier five-month high.
[MET/L]
                                
 On currency markets, the dollar rose against the euro. A
stronger dollar tends to pressure dollar-priced bullion, making
it less attractive to overseas investors.
                                
 
                                
 OUTFLOW
                                
 Meanwhile, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, New York's SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said it recorded a small
outflow on Friday from record levels.
                                
 ETFs issue securities backed by physical stocks of a
precious metal. Buying by the funds has been a major element of
overall gold demand in recent months as the financial crisis has
fuelled interest in physical assets.
                                
 Earlier on Monday, a unit of London's ETF Securities filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission to register platinum
and palladium trusts in the United States, according to a notice
on the SEC's website. [nL6159066]
                                
 The recent fall in gold prices has revived demand from
another source, however, with Indian jewellery sales picking up
ahead of the key gold-buying Akshaya Tritya festival later this
month. [ID:nBOM432649]
                                
 "Patchy jewellery demand was seen late last week when gold
was near the week's lows; and this morning our traders report
Indian clients calling to buy gold... because it is now cheap,"
UBS said in a note to clients.
                                
 Among other precious metals, spot platinum <XPT=> eased to
$1,140.50/1,150.50 an ounce from $1,154.50.
                                
 Spot palladium <XPD=> firmed to $220.50/225.50 an ounce from
$218.
                                
 Silver <XAG=> dipped to $12.13/12.20 an ounce from $12.71.
                                
 The world's largest silver-backed ETF, the iShares Silver
Trust <SLV>, said its holdings rose 119.55 tonnes or 1.4 percent
from the day before to a record 8,413.01 tonnes on Apr 3.
[ID:nSP94036]
 (Editing by Sue Thomas)