SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on
Friday, after hitting a three-month high in the previous session
on upbeat economic data from Germany and the United States,
while high oil prices also helped underpin the sentiment.	
    	
    FUNDAMENTALS	
    * Spot gold edged down 0.1 percent to $1,777.81 an
ounce by 0035 GMT, on course for a more than 3 percent weekly
rise, its strongest one-week gain in nearly a month.	
    * U.S. gold lost 0.4 percent to $1,779.50.	
    * Upbeat data from the United States and Germany helped lift
the sentiment in the financial markets, pushing U.S. stocks to
near a level unseen since before the global financial crisis and
the euro to a 2-1/2-month high against the dollar on Thursday.
   	
    * But the European Commission warned that the euro zone
economy is heading into its second recession in just three years
and the wider European Union will stagnate. 	
    * SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings gained 1.209 tonnes to
1,282.796 tonnes by Feb. 23, the highest in more than two
months. 	
    * Brent crude hit a fresh nine-month high and a record in
euro terms on Thursday among heightened tensions between Iran
and the West. 	
    * Spot silver inched down 0.1 percent to $35.28 after
a hefty 3-percent rise in the previous session pushed prices to
$35.59, a level unseen in nearly four months.	
    * Spot platinum was little changed at $1,718.24, off
a five-month high of $1,731.50 hit in the previous session. The
metal is headed for a weekly rise of more than 5 percent.	
    * Eyes are on the meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers
and central banks this weekend, which will likely be dominated
by discussion of the euro zone debt crisis. 	
    * For the top stories on metals and other news, click
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    MARKET NEWS	
    * Wall Street stocks rose on Thursday after data showed the
U.S. labor market remained on the mend, but the market stalled
as it approached highs not seen since before the 2008 collapse
of Lehman Brothers. 	
    * The euro hovered at 2-1/2-month highs on Friday, holding
on to chunky gains made the day before after data on improving
German business sentiment prompted traders to cover short
positions. 	
    	
    DATA/EVENTS	
 0700  Germany   GDP detailed yy          Oct 2011               
 1455  US        Thomson Reuters/UMich Feb consumer sentiment 
 1500  US        New home sales           Jan
 	
    PRICES	
    Precious metals prices 0035 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1777.81   -1.98   -0.11     13.69
  Spot Silver        35.28   -0.05   -0.14     27.41
  Spot Platinum    1718.24    0.25   +0.01     23.35
  Spot Palladium    712.97   -4.03   -0.56      9.27
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1779.50   -6.80   -0.38     13.58         2657
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  35.31   -0.25   -0.69     26.49          366
  Euro/Dollar       1.3366
  Dollar/Yen         80.05

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