PRECIOUS-Gold Inches above $1,400, Seen Choppy

SINGAPORE, April 22 - Gold edged up on Monday and held above the psychologically key level of $1,400 an ounce, although sentiment was shaky after steady outflows from exchange-traded funds trimmed holdings to their lowest in three years.
   
But physical demand was expected to offer support as gold retailers struggled to cope with a surge in buying interest for bars, coins, nuggets and jewellery following a recent slump in prices.
  
FUNDAMENTALS
* Gold had added $1.49 an ounce to $1,405.34 by 0032 GMT. It fell around 5 percent last week after notching its biggest-ever daily loss in dollar terms on Monday. The collapse surprised many veteran investors, who see gold as portfolio protection against inflation and other market risks.

* U.S. gold for June delivery was at $1,406.70 an ounce, up $11.10.  
    
* Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York's SPDR Gold Trust GLD, dropped 0.88 percent on Friday from Thursday, while those of the largest silver-backed ETF, New York's iShares Silver Trust SLV remained unchanged for the same period.
   
* But hedge funds and other big speculators ploughed new money into gold even after the precious metal posted a record loss in dollar terms this week, according to trading data on
Friday that also showed inflows for many other commodities
 
* It is too early for the European Central Bank to judge whether a further interest rate cut is needed but the impact of Japan's easing must be closely monitored, ECB Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said on Saturday.
   
MARKET NEWS
* Bulls drove Japanese shares to nearly five-year highs as yen bears clawed at the symbolic 100 yen/dollar door after the Group of 20 gathering in Washington all but endorsed the Bank of Japan's aggressive reflation drive.
  
* U.S. crude futures extended gains for a second day on Friday on bargain-hunting, while talk that OPEC could hold an emergency meeting to tackle the recent sharp price falls supported oil.
      
    DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
    1230 U.S. Chicago Fed National Activity index
    1400 Euro zone Consumer confidence
    1400 U.S. Existing home sales <USEHS=ECI
 
    PRICES
   
  Precious metals prices 0032 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1405.34    1.49   +0.11    -16.08
  Spot Silver        23.16   -0.01   -0.04    -23.51
  Spot Platinum    1428.49    6.49   +0.46     -6.94
  Spot Palladium    674.75    2.75   +0.41     -2.49
  COMEX GOLD JUN3  1406.70   11.10   +0.80    -16.06         7746
  COMEX SILVER MAY3  23.12    0.16   +0.70    -23.52         2324
  Euro/Dollar       1.3059
  Dollar/Yen         99.81