SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on
Friday, although a weaker dollar supported positive sentiment
after upbeat economic data in the previous session weighed on
the greenback and sent bullion to a three-month high.	
    Gold was headed for a weekly rise of more than 3 percent,
its biggest one-week gain in nearly a month, after rallying for
four straight sessions to push through a key technical level,
aided by macroeconomic data.	
    Upbeat data from Germany on Thursday pushed the euro to a
2-1/2-month high against the dollar, helping gold as a cheaper
greenback attracts buyers holding other currencies to
dollar-priced commodities.  	
    "Technicals, along with the weakness in the dollar, lead to
gold buying," said Peter Tse, director at ScotiaMocatta in Hong
Kong.	
    Tse said technical indications suggested gold could test
higher levels, after it broke key resistance around $1,760 on
Wednesday, but some profit-taking selling could emerge ahead of
the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting on weekend.	
    "Beware that any correction could be sharp and deep, even
though the trend is still looking fairly good for the time
being," he added.	
    The euro zone debt crisis is expected to dominate the
discussions at the G20 meeting, before a European Union summit
on March 1-2. 	
    Spot gold edged down 0.2 percent to $1,777.04 an
ounce by 0149 GMT, off a three-month high of $1,787.11 on
Thursday.	
    U.S. gold lost 0.4 percent to $1,779.10.	
    Investors will also be watching a second three-year
long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) allotment by the European
Central Bank on Feb 29, which is expected to inject nearly half
a trillion euros to banks. 	
    Hopes of more monetary easing by central banks have helped
gold rally nearly 14 percent this year, as any injection of
cheap cash raises the inflation outlook, which polishes gold's
appeal as an inflation hedge.	
    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. 	
    Spot silver lost 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 edged down 0.2 percent to $1,714.99,
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.	
    Traders and analysts cautioned that platinum's recent rally
might be losing steam soon.	
    "I wouldn't read too much into it, as the size and volume in
trading of that metal has been fairly light. We have to wait a
few days to confirm that the rally can be sustainable," said Tse
of ScotiaMocatta.	
 	
      Precious metals prices 0149 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1777.04   -2.75   -0.15     13.64
  Spot Silver        35.28   -0.05   -0.14     27.41
  Spot Platinum    1714.99   -3.00   -0.17     23.11
  Spot Palladium    712.47   -4.53   -0.63      9.19
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1779.10   -7.20   -0.40     13.55         4700
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  35.30   -0.26   -0.73     26.44         1740
  Euro/Dollar       1.3367
  Dollar/Yen         80.09

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