* Spot gold falls to one-week low of $1,593.04/oz
    * Coming up: U.S. Dec consumer confidence; 1500 GMT

 (Updates prices)	
    By Rujun Shen	
    SINGAPORE, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Gold hovered around
$1,600 an ounce on Tuesday, as investors stayed on the sidelines
in the final week of the year with lingering concerns about the
euro zone debt crisis.	
    Recent upbeat U.S. economic data spurred a rally in riskier
assets including equities and industrial metals, and sent gold
prices up about half a percent last week. 
 	
    Investors will look for more signs of recovery in the
world's No.1 economy from data this week, including consumer
confidence for December due later in the day.	
    "Gold prices may be under pressure from a strengthening
dollar in the next few months as the brightened economic
prospects in the United States are likely to further boost the
dollar index," said Li Ning, an analyst at Shanghai CIFCO
Futures. 	
    The dollar index traded steady on Tuesday, and was on
course for a second straight quarter of gains, as fears about
the worsening euro zone debt crisis drove investors to seek
safety in the greenback. 	
    Spot gold fell to a one-week low of $1,591.09 earlier
and recovered slightly to $1,596.44 by 0700 GMT, down half a
percent from the previous close. 	
    U.S. gold also dropped half a percent to $1,598.60.	
    	
    	
    Silver and gold speculators cut their bullish bets for the
third consecutive week in the week to Dec. 20, with silver net
long positions down by more than half, said the U.S. Commodity
Futures Trading Commission. 	
    Market participants are also watching Italy's last bond
auctions of the year later this week, after the 10-year Italian
bond yield broke above 7 percent, seen as an
unsustainably high level. 	
    "Although gold outlook remains supported in the medium to
long term by central banks' gold buying, among other factors,
risks such as rising bond yields in Italy will send more safe
haven flow to the dollar and pressure gold," said Li of Shanghai
CIFCO.	
    Prospects of slower global growth have led some central
banks to loosen their monetary policies. Launch of quantitative
easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank
would provide support for commodities, including gold, analysts
have said.	
    The European Central Bank should launch a U.S.-style asset
purchase programme if economic conditions change, executive
board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said, opening the door to a
possible policy shift at the bank to combat deflation.
 	
    Holdings of the iShares Silver Trust, the world's
biggest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, declined nearly 1
percent on the day to 9,605.79 tonnes by Dec. 23, lowest since
mid-July. 	
    	
   Precious metals prices 0700 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1596.44   -8.52   -0.53     12.47
  Spot Silver        28.90   -0.15   -0.52     -6.35
  Spot Platinum    1420.75   -4.06   -0.28    -19.62
  Spot Palladium    652.00   -5.99   -0.91    -18.45
  TOCOM Gold       3996.00  -11.00   -0.27      7.16        33526
  TOCOM Platinum   3584.00  -57.00   -1.57    -23.68         9458
  TOCOM Silver       72.80   -0.40   -0.55    -10.12          425
  TOCOM Palladium  1638.00  -17.00   -1.03    -21.89          322
  COMEX GOLD FEB2  1598.60   -7.40   -0.46     12.47        10670
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  28.94   -0.15   -0.51     -6.48         1620
  Euro/Dollar       1.3073
  Dollar/Yen         77.87
  TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months   
 	
 (Editing by Sugita Katyal)

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