PRECIOUS-Gold holds above $880/oz in slow trade

                                
 * Jewellery, industry demand slow even below $900/oz
                                
 * Eyes on Wall Street but trade quiet as Easter holiday
nears
                                
 By Risa Maeda
                                
 TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Gold inched up to hold above
$880 per ounce on Wednesday, adding to a 1 percent rally the
previous day as stock markets fell at the start of what is
likely to be a grim corporate earnings season.
                                
 Trade was quiet, however, with the Easter holiday
approaching and jewellery demand weak even after the precious
metal fell back below $900. Holdings at the world's biggest
gold-backed exchange-traded fund are steady, reflecting a
slowdown in demand from long-term investors.
                                
 Spot gold <XAU=> was at $882.10 per ounce at 0238 GMT, up
0.2 percent from New York's notional close of $880.05, and
recovering from a trough of $864.30 on Monday, its lowest since
Jan. 23.
                                
 "The Easter holiday is coming, so there is not much demand.
Also, normally April and May is a quiet season, especially from
the jewellery sector," said Dick Poon, a division manager at
Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong.
                                
 Expectations for another lousy corporate earnings period --
S&P 500 companies are forecast to see earnings fall 37 percent
from a year ago -- has drawn safe-haven investors back into the
dollar as well as gold.
                                
 One focus is the fate of U.S. automaker General Motors Corp
<GM.N>. A source familiar with the company's plans told Reuters
on Tuesday it was in "intense" and "earnest" preparations for a
possible bankruptcy filing. [ID:nN07463416]
                                
 Asian stock markets fell on Wednesday, with the MSCI index
of Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> down
almost 2.5 percent.
                                
 Gold also got a lift on Tuesday after metals consultancy
GFMS forecast prices would climb above $1,100 an ounce this
year amid financial uncertainty around the globe. [ID:nWLA1721]
                                
 The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said holdings stood at 1,127.37 tonnes
as of April 7, unchanged from levels on April 3 when they fell
from a record 1,127.44 tonnes. [GOL/SPDR]
 Precious metals prices at 0245 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold         882.50    2.45   +0.28      5.98
 Spot Silver        12.29    0.07   +0.57    -16.79
 Spot Platinum    1153.00   -9.00   -0.77    -24.14
 Spot Palladium    222.50    0.50   +0.23    -39.54
 TOCOM Gold       2855.00    9.00   +0.32     -6.70      
16501
 TOCOM Platinum   3746.00  -11.00   -0.29    -29.84       
6842
 TOCOM Silver      395.20    2.20   +0.56    -26.95        
267
 TOCOM Palladium   729.00   -3.00   -0.41    -46.04         
64
 Euro/Dollar       1.3194
 Dollar/Yen        100.07
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is
 priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
 (Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Michael
Urquhart)