PRECIOUS-Gold Pauses after Rising 1 Pct on ECB Decision

SINGAPORE, Jan 11 - Gold traded nearly flat on Friday, taking a breather after a 1-percent climb in the precious session when it tracked the rally in the euro after the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged.
   
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was little changed at $1,673.54 an ounce by 0030 GMT, on course for a 1-percent weekly gain – its biggest such rise since late November.

* U.S. gold inched down 0.3 percent to $1,673.80.

* The euro zone economy will recover later in 2013 and there are already some signs of stabilisation, the ECB said on Thursday after it unanimously held interest rates at a record low. ECB chief Mario Draghi remained cautious, saying the bank was not thinking about an exit from its crisis policy measures.

* The single currency rose to its highest against the dollar on Thursday, after jumping nearly 1.6 percent on Thursday -- its biggest daily rise since early August. The dollar index lost nearly 1 percent, its sharpest one-day decline since September.
   
* The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week, but details of the report suggested the jobs market continued to grow at a moderate pace. Other data indicated the economy remained on a steady growth path, with sales at wholesalers rising by the most in more than 1-1/2 years in November.
   
* Spain's first debt auction of the year attracted strong bids, sending its benchmark bond yields to 10-month lows on Thursday, as appetite for high-yielding assets improved.
 
* Spot platinum rose half a percent to $1,631, on course for a 4-percent weekly rise in its second week of climbs, leading the weekly performance of precious metals. It rose to a near four-week high of $1,632.50.
   
* Spot palladium gained 0.4 percent to $699.
   
* Two top Federal Reserve policymakers expressed discomfort on Thursday with the U.S. central bank's easy monetary policy, suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke may face more dissent this year.

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MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks rose on Thursday and the S&P 500 ended at a five-year high as stronger-than-expected exports from China spurred optimism about global growth prospects.
   
* The yen slid to 2-1/2 year lows on Friday after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the Bank of Japan should consider maximising employment as a policy goal on top of its current price stability mandate.
       
    DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
01
 30  China  PPI year on year for Dec                         
 0130  China  CPI year on year for Dec                         
 0500  Japan  Economy Watchers Survey For December             
 0800  Spain  Industrial Output For November
 0930  Uk     Industrial Output For November                   
 1330  U.S.   International Trade For November                 
 1330  U.S.   Import/Export Prices For December               
       
    PRICES
   
     Precious metals prices 0030 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1673.54   -1.10   -0.07     -0.06
  Spot Silver        30.80   -0.02   -0.06      1.72
  Spot Platinum    1631.00    8.20   +0.51      6.25
  Spot Palladium    699.00    2.70   +0.39      1.01
  COMEX GOLD FEB3  1673.80   -4.20   -0.25     -0.12         4688
  COMEX SILVER MAR3  30.82   -0.10   -0.32      1.95         2799
  Euro/Dollar       1.3267
  Dollar/Yen         89.15
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months