* Gold firmer as euro drops, trade thin
* For the technicals on gold, click on [
]* Coming Up: U.S. Redbook weekly report; 1255 GMT
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, June 15 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on Tuesday on safe haven buying after the euro slipped and stock markets dropped as a downgrade of Greece's debt to junk reminded investors the debt crisis in Europe was far from over.
But with the risk of a Greek contagion already priced, gold would have to crack a recent high around $1,230 to sustain the uptrend and revisit record levels. Gold was about 2.4 percent below a lifetime high of $1,251.20 struck last week.
Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,221.00 an ounce by 0208 GMT, up 85 cents from New York's notional close on Monday. Trading was thin with Chinese speculators away for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.
For a graphic showing the spot gold technical outlook, see: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/WT_20101506085737.jpg
"When we look at the momentum indicators, it's travelling along quite nicely. It doesn't look overbought or sold on a relative strength basis," said Mark Pervan, senior commodities analyst at ANZ.
"I think the downgrade of Greek credit ratings is a timely reminder not to sell gold. I think that in some degree, a lot of risk has been priced in, when you talk about Greece. This is just a reminder, rather than a new development I suspect.
A rally of the euro against the dollar faltered on Tuesday as investors booked profits and sentiment towards the single currency remained fragile as euro zone debt worries returned after Moody's cut Greece's credit rating to junk. [
] [ ].U.S. gold futures for August delivery <GCQ0> fell $2.0 an ounce to $1,222.6, extending Monday's fall. Bullion has rallied to a record high on worries that the European sovereign debt crisis is spreading and the U.S. economy may be slowing.
"I think there's a bit of bargain hunting after the downgrade created uncertainty. But China is on holiday and there's World Cup fever...there's not enough liquidity in the market," said a bullion dealer in Hong Kong.
"I think the market is still consolidating. There's support at $1,215 and $1,220, while on the upside, there's a big resistance at $1,250," he added.
The Nikkei edged down Tuesday, tracking declines in Wall Street after the downgrade of Greece's debt hurt investor confidence. [
] [ ]Holdings in The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, were unchanged at a record high of 1,306.137 tonnes. [
]U.S. crude futures slipped below $75 a barrel on Tuesday after a 1.8 percent rise a day earlier amid caution over a downgrade of Greece's debt. [
] Precious metals prices at 0208 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1221.00 0.85 +0.07 11.44 Spot Silver 18.25 0.09 +0.50 8.44 Spot Platinum 1552.75 -4.25 -0.27 5.85 Spot Palladium 455.25 -0.25 -0.05 12.27 TOCOM Gold 3602.00 -43.00 -1.18 10.52 19805 TOCOM Platinum 4605.00 -22.00 -0.48 5.11 7321 TOCOM Silver 54.20 -0.70 -1.28 4.84 134 TOCOM Palladium 1347.00 1.00 +0.07 15.62 56 Euro/Dollar 1.2206 Dollar/Yen 91.55 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Ed Lane)