PRECIOUS-Gold Holds Near Two-Week High on Euro Zone Concerns

SINGAPORE, March 13 - Gold traded little changed on Wednesday, holding near a two-week high hit in the previous session when Germany's central bank expressed concerns about the euro zone crisis and the risk of the European Central Bank's moves to stem the crisis.
   
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold stood at $1,592.19 an ounce at 0031 GMT, easing from $1,598.2 in the previous session, which was its highest since Feb. 28.
   
* U.S. gold traded nearly flat at $1,591.50.
   
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's biggest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell for a fourth straight session to 1,236.307 tonnes on March 12, its lowest since October 2011.
   
* Germany's Bundesbank said the euro zone crisis, which has eased as a result of European Central Bank's funding promises, was not over, and it had set aside billions more euros against what it deems risky ECB moves.
   
* Italy's borrowing costs will climb on Wednesday at its first sale of long-term debt since Fitch cut its credit rating, but demand for high yields and European Central Bank protection will temper the rise, analysts said.
   
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MARKET NEWS
* The yen's selloff paused on Wednesday but expectations of radical policy easing from the Bank of Japan meant further weakness was more than likely, while dour UK manufacturing data consigned sterling to the dog house.
   
* The S&P 500 ended lower on Tuesday, breaking a seven-session string of gains as investors pulled back from technology and financials, but the Dow eked out the smallest of gains to finish at another all-time closing high.
   
    DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
 1000 Euro zone   Industrial production                        
 1230 U.S.        Import/export prices                         
 1230 U.S.        Retail sales                                 
 1400 U.S.        Business inventories                         
 1800 U.S.        Federal budget                               
   
    PRICES
    Precious metals prices 0031 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1592.19    0.10   +0.01     -4.92
  Spot Silver        29.15    0.05   +0.17     -3.73
  Spot Platinum    1592.24   -2.76   -0.17      3.73
  Spot Palladium    769.25   -1.25   -0.16     11.16
  COMEX GOLD APR3  1591.50   -0.20   -0.01     -5.03         1811
  COMEX SILVER MAY3  29.17   -0.01   -0.02     -3.52          625
  Euro/Dollar       1.3025
  Dollar/Yen         95.94
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months