PRECIOUS-Gold rises towards $890/oz as stocks fall

                                
 * Jewellery, industry demand slow even below $900/oz
                                
 * Eyes on Wall Street but trade quiet as Easter holiday
nears
 (Updates prices, adds new quotes)
                                
 By Risa Maeda
                                
 TOKYO, April 8 (Reuters) - Gold firmed towards $890 per
ounce on Wednesday, adding to a 1 percent rally the previous
day, in a safety buying spree as stock markets slumped ahead of
what is likely to be a torrid corporate earnings season.
                                
 The Tokyo stock market <.N225> slid, in tandem with a slump
on Wall Street, fuelling expectations of another sell-off in
European and U.S. equities markets, which may help lift gold.
                                
 "Gold had come under pressure from the recent firmness in
the equities markets. But such pressure has gone after the
slide on Wall Street yesterday was extended into Tokyo's
Nikkei," said Shuji Sugata, a manager at Mitsubishi Corp
Futures & Securities research team.
                                
 News of adverse corporate earnings would naturally affect
markets, but investors remain wary of anything that may revive
concerns about the global financial crisis, he said.
                                
 Spot gold <XAU=> was at $886.90 per ounce at 0532 GMT, up
0.8 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.
                                
 Gold prices are still down about 11 percent from an
11-month high above $1,000 hit in February.
                                
 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.
                                
 "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.
                                
 While technical charts suggest support lies around $850,
gold 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]
                                
 Expectations for another lousy corporate earnings period --
S&P 500 companies are forecast to see earnings fall 37 percent
from a year ago -- have 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]
                                
 Tokyo's Nikkei 225-share average <.N225> fell 3 percent and
the MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside of Japan
<.MIAPJ0000PUS> lost 3.9 percent.
                                
 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 0528 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold         886.65    6.60   +0.75      6.48
 Spot Silver        12.32    0.10   +0.82    -16.59
 Spot Platinum    1153.00   -9.00   -0.77    -24.14
 Spot Palladium    222.50    0.50   +0.23    -39.54
 TOCOM Gold       2865.00   19.00   +0.67     -6.37      
26430
 TOCOM Platinum   3732.00  -25.00   -0.67    -30.10      
10608
 TOCOM Silver      395.00    2.00   +0.51    -26.99        
309
 TOCOM Palladium   726.00   -6.00   -0.82    -46.26        
235
 Euro/Dollar       1.3173
 Dollar/Yen        100.01
 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 Ben Tan)