* Gold falls from 1-week high, investors book profits
* Players await details of EU plan to rescue Greece
(Updates prices, adds quotes)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Gold dropped on Friday after
rising to a one-week high the previous day as the euro softened
against the U.S. dollar, and investors also waited for more
details from a European rescue plan for debt-ridden Greece.
But gold's steady rebound since falling to a three-month
low raised hopes it could eventually revisit last week's high
around $1,100 an ounce on firming stock markets.
Gold <XAU=> fell $6.30 to $1,089.55 an ounce by 0307 GMT.
It hit an intraday high of $1,097.75 on Thursday as investors
turned to bullion as a hedge against currency volatility
following a pledge by the European Union to help Greece.
"The details of the plans are awaited eagerly by people. If
it is convincing, we can see more upside in risk-taking trade,"
said Wong Eng Soon, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in
Singapore.
"For a short timeframe, at least for one week, it has still
some upside to go, up until around $1,110 levels," said Wong,
adding that the market would watch currency movements ahead of
fourth-quarter gross domestic product data in the euro zone
later in the day.
Bullion was 11 percent below a lifetime high of $1,226.10
hit in early December but hovered around 4 percent above a
three-month low of $1,043.75 hit last week.
The physical trade slowed to a trickle in Singapore ahead
of the Lunar New Year holidays. Premiums for gold bars were
unchanged at $1.10 to the spot London prices. <GOLD/ASIA1>
The euro <EUR=> slipped to $1.3665, extending Thursday's
fall because of a lack of details from the EU summit to help
Greece. []
European leaders sought to prop up Greece with words of
support at a summit on Thursday but failed to offer concrete
proposals to help the country tackle its debt crisis.
[]
A deal to provide financial aid to Greece move to stave off
a broader crisis in the 16-nation bloc would be unprecedented,
riding roughshod through rules forbidding a bailout.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJO> fell $5.3 to
$1,089.4 as speculators booked profits after pushing up the
contract to a one-week high on Thursday.
"The U.S. dollar has been a little bit stronger today. It
may be that it's taking some of the edge off the gold price,"
said David Moore, commodities strategist at the CBA in Sydney.
"I think it's actually being quite resilient. It's actually
held up relatively well given this sort of movement we've seen
in the U.S. dollar over a period of time," he added.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,106.378 tonnes
as of Feb. 11, unchanged from the previous business day.
[] Oil eased below $75 a barrel on Friday,
pressured by a firmer U.S. dollar on growing disappointment
among investors over the lack of details from the European
Union summit to help debt-laden Greece. []
Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 0.8 percent on Friday,
with gains centred on bargain-hunting after a pledge by
European leaders to support debt-laden Greece eased fears of a
broader euro zone crisis. []
Precious metals prices at 0307 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg
Spot Gold 1089.55 -6.30 -0.57 -0.56
Spot Silver 15.58 -0.06 -0.38 -7.43
Spot Platinum 1522.00 -6.00 -0.39 3.75
Spot Palladium 416.00 -3.50 -0.83 2.59
TOCOM Gold 3150.00 38.00 +1.22 -3.34
40678
TOCOM Platinum 4368.00 67.00 +1.56 -0.30
10009
TOCOM Silver 45.60 0.40 +0.88 -11.80
436
TOCOM Palladium 1198.00 1.00 +0.08 2.83
188
Euro/Dollar 1.3660
Dollar/Yen 89.67
TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
(Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi in TOKYO; Editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
