SINGAPORE, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on
Friday as optimism that Greece may soon secure an urgently
needed bailout buoyed financial markets and helped bullion
recover from a one-week low hit in the previous session.	
    Gold has moved in the range between $1,700 and $1,760 since
the beginning of the month, closely tracking the progress and
setbacks in Greece's struggle to obtain a 130-billion euro
bailout from its international lenders.	
    Hopes that Greece has finally done enough to secure a second
bailout after Athens set out extra budget savings demanded by
its international lenders helped riskier assets rally in the
last trading day of the week.  	
    Technical signals may have turned upbeat for gold, said Nick
Trevethan, senior commodity strategist at ANZ in Singapore.	
    "We're at the point where we have tried the downside three
or four times in the past two weeks and failed. The frustration
with failure to breach the $1,700-$1,710 level might put the
focus back on resistance," he said.	
    Lofty oil prices on concerns about supply disruption from
Iran are also expected to underpin sentiment in gold, he added.
 	
    Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,731.90 an ounce by
0250 GMT, on course for a 0.7-percent weekly rise after two
consecutive weeks of losses. Gold touched a low of $1,705.09 in
the previous session, lowest since Feb. 10.	
    U.S. gold gained 0.3 percent to $1,733.60.	
    The data from the World Gold Council, showing that global
gold demand in 2011 hit a 14-year high on investment, China
buying and central bank purchases, also supported gold.
  	
    	
    Encouraging U.S. labour, manufacturing and housing data also
helped boost sentiment in the financial markets. 	
    Gold, traditionally a safe-haven asset, has been tracking
riskier assets in the past few months as the turmoil caused by
the euro zone debt crisis forces investors to sell off their
gold positions to cover losses elsewhere.	
    Though hopes were raised on Greece's bailout deal, the euro
zone is hardly out of the woods and its debt crisis can continue
to disrupt the global financial markets.	
    "The recent sideway pattern makes it difficult to attract
buyers," said a Shanghai-based trader, "I still don't see any
direction while $1,750 may remain a key resistance level."	
    Spot silver edged up 0.2 percent to $33.52, off a
three-week low of $32.64 hit in the previous session. The metal
remained the top performer of the complex with a 21 percent
year-to-day climb.	
    Spot platinum gained 0.6 percent to $1,628.99, headed
for a weekly decline of 1.5 percent, after six straight weeks of
gains.	
    Spot palladium rose 0.3 percent to $693.72, but on
course for its biggest one-week drop in six weeks.	
    	

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