FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold added $1.99 an ounce to $1,745.69 an ounce by 0026 GMT, having risen as high as $1,750.70 an ounce on Wednesday, its strongest since Dec. 8. Gold remains below a lifetime high around $1,920 an ounce hit last September.

* U.S. gold slipped $1 to $1,748.50 an ounce.

* Factory activity rose in China, the United States and Germany in January, and the three manufacturing superpowers drove gains in global output even as Europe struggles with fallout from its festering debt crisis.

* Greece's prime minister will call the country's political leaders in the next few days to seek backing for more austerity after the International Monetary Fund warned this was key to securing the new bailout Athens needs to avoid a messy default.

* For the top stories on metals and other news, click , or MARKET NEWS

* Asian shares and the euro gained on Thursday as global manufacturing data soothed fears about global economies deteriorating on the back of the ongoing euro zone debt crisis, while falling European debt yields also improved sentiment.

* U.S. crude oil prices slipped towards $97 a barrel on Thursday as a larger-than-expected rise in crude oil stocks outweighed support from upbeat manufacturing data in China, the United States and Germany.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0700 - SWISS TRADE FOR DECEMBER

0930 - UK MARKIT/CIPS CONSTRUCTION PMI FOR JANUARY

1000 - EURO ZONE PRODUCER PRICES FOR DECEMBER

1330 - U.S. WEEKLY JOBLESS CLAIMS

1330 - U.S. PRODUCTIVITY,UNIT LABOR COSTS PREM Q4 REPORT

1500 - U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN BERNANKE TESTIFIES,

N/A - ICSC U.S. CHAIN STORE SALES FOR JANUARY

Precious metals prices 0026 GMT

Metal                                Last               Change         Pct chg       YTD pct chg      Volume

Spot Gold                       1745.69           1.99                 +0.11           11.63

Spot Silver                      33.79                0.10                +0.30           22.03

Spot Platinum                1615.74           4.01                +0.25           15.99

Spot Palladium              696.00             1.78                +0.26            6.67

COMEX GOLD APR2    1748.50          -1.00                -0.06           11.60             1125

COMEX SILVER MAR2  33.81               0.00               +0.01           21.12              822

Euro/Dollar                      1.3168

Dollar/Yen                         76.14

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