* Gold turns flat after rising to record, silver retreats
* Portugal PM's resignation rekindles euro zone debt fears
* Coming up: U.S. real GDP data on Friday
(Rewrites, adds comment, graphics, updates prices, adds NEW
YORK to dateline, second byline)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, March 24 (Reuters) - Gold pared gains
after rising to record highs on Thursday, as investors took
profits from a brief rally driven by revived jitters over the
euro zone sovereign debt crisis amid political instability in
Portugal ahead of an EU summit.
Bullion retreated after hitting an all-time high $1,447.40
an ounce, and silver also pulled back from 31-year peaks. The
metals were initially underpinned by concerns over the health
of the bloc, violence in the Middle East and North Africa, and
fears over inflation.
"Gold's rally was not a huge percentage move at all. It's
just quiet appreciation across the board," said Dennis Gartman,
publisher of the Gartman Letter, a daily investment
newsletter.
Spot gold <XAU=> dropped 0.2 percent to $1,433.45 an ounce
by 1:28 p.m. EDT (1728 GMT). Prior to Thursday's pullback,
bullion has gained about 4 percent during a six-session winning
streak.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ1> fell 0.2
percent to $1,435.10.
COMEX gold was one of the most actively trading commodity
markets with volume above 180,000 contracts, already the
highest in more than a week.
Silver <XAG=> gained a penny to $37.37 an ounce, having
earlier rose to a 31-year high of $38.13.
The return to prominence of euro zone sovereign debt fears,
a key factor pushing gold prices to record levels last year,
has given a fresh boost to both silver and gold on Thursday.
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Take a Look on gold hitting record high: []
Factbox-Gold milestones []
Graphic on relative performance:
http://link.reuters.com/taz68r
Graphics on euro zone crisis: http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p
Graphics on Mideast unrest: http://r.reuters.com/nym77r
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
"The gold price is currently supported by safe-haven
demand, stemming from three current crises - Libya and more
generally unrest in the Middle East/North Africa region, Japan
and renewed concerns over the periphery of Europe, particularly
Ireland and Portugal," said BNP Paribas analyst Anne-Laure
Tremblay.
Commodity fund managers said that precious metals are also
supported by Wednesday's disappointing new home sales data,
which could lead to an extension of the Fed's $600 billion bond
buying program -- dubbed QE2 because it is the second round of
quantitative easing -- before it is scheduled to end in June.
"The world wants to own any kind of hard assets. There is
plenty of liquidity in the system created by the Fed and by the
Bank of Japan. That money, in the interim, is finding its way
into equities and into gold," said
Last Friday, central banks of the Group of Seven rich
nations coordinated to pour billion of dollars into markets to
depress the value of the yen after Japan's devastating
earthquake and nuclear crisis triggered a yen surge and raised
fears about the global economy.
Platinum <XPT=> rose 0.1 percent to $1,753.49 an ounce,
while palladium <XPD=> gained 0.6 percent to $750.47.
Prices at 1:28 p.m. EDT (1728 GMT)
LAST NET PCT YTD
CHG CHG CHG
US gold <GCJ1> 1433.80 -4.20 -0.3% 0.9%
US silver <SIK1> 37.400 0.202 0.6% 20.9%
US platinum <PLJ1> 1757.00 -3.00 -0.2% -1.2%
US palladium <PAM1> 753.35 4.05 0.5% -6.2%
Gold <XAU=> 1433.45 -2.90 -0.2% 1.0%
Silver <XAG=> 37.37 0.01 0.0% 21.1%
Platinum <XPT=> 1753.49 1.68 0.1% -0.8%
Palladium <XPD=> 750.47 4.78 0.6% -6.1%
Gold Fix <XAUFIX=> 1447.00 5.75 0.4% 2.6%
Silver Fix <XAGFIX=> 37.78 120.00 3.3% 23.3%
Platinum Fix <XPTFIX=> 1762.00 9.00 0.5% 1.8%
Palladium Fix <XPDFIX=> 758.00 11.00 1.5% -4.2%
(Reporting by Frank Tang and Jan Harvey; Editing by Lisa
Shumaker)
