* Gold steadies near record, ETF holdings rise
* For a technical outlook on gold, click on []
* Coming Up: U.S. Initial job claims; 1230 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, May 13 (Reuters) - Gold held steady near a
record high reached in the previous session, while the world's
largest gold-backed ETF reached an all-time high on Thursday as
investors continued to worry that attempts to contain the euro
zone debt crisis would either fail or stoke inflation.
Holdings on the SDPR Gold Trust <GLD> rose around 17 tonnes
-- worth nearly $700 million -- to a record of 1,209.499 tonnes
as of May 12 as retail investors turned to the metal as a hedge
against volatile currencies and economic
uncertainties.[]
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,236.60 an ounce by 0302 GMT, up
25 cents from New York's notional close on Wednesday, when it
roared to a record $1,248.15 on worries that a $1 trillion
European rescue package will not solve the euro zone debt
crisis.
Bullion has gained around 12 percent this year as investors
ditched the euro in favour of the metal. Silver, platinum and
palladium weakened after recent gains.
For a graphic showing the technical outlook for gold, see:
http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101305092517.jpg
"I think it's trying to take another bet at $1,250 again,"
said Wong Eng Soon, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
"There's always the question of a loss of confidence in
paper currencies when governments have such big deficits. This
loss of confidence will definitely be there to stay."
The euro inched up against the dollar on Thursday but was
vulnerable near a recent 14-month low on persistent worries
about the debt crisis in the euro zone and the impact of fiscal
measures on the region's growth. []
"The Greek bailout does not address the underlying fiscal
problem -- the absence of EU taxing and spending authority.
Investors, fearing the worst, are hedging by putting more of
their portfolios into gold, and the price of gold rises,"
University of Maryland professor Peter Morici said in a note.
"Simply, the European Central Bank will have to print lots
more money to buy European government bonds to keep the system
afloat and a weak euro, inflation and rising interest rates
will follow."
In other markets, Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.5 percent
on Thursday led by exporters such as Advantest <6857.T>, after
Spain outlined measures to cut its deficit, easing fears that
the Greek debt crisis could spread in Europe.
[][]
But dealers believe the scale of Greece's fiscal problems
could make the country default despite the rescue package,
which may then trigger a string of defaults by other countries
such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Precious metals prices at 0302 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Turnover
Spot Gold 1236.60 0.25 +0.02 12.86
Spot Silver 19.43 -0.05 -0.26 15.45
Spot Platinum 1727.50 -9.00 -0.52 17.76
Spot Palladium 537.50 -2.50 -0.46 32.55
TOCOM Gold 3716.00 32.00 +0.87 14.02
46884
TOCOM Platinum 5182.00 109.00 +2.15 18.28
18711
TOCOM Silver 58.70 0.90 +1.56 13.54
402
TOCOM Palladium 1609.00 52.00 +3.34 38.11
826
Euro/Dollar 1.2649
Dollar/Yen 93.17
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Editing by Himani Sarkar)
