SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on
Friday, after a four-day winning streak that sent prices to a
three-month top in the previous session, while progress in
solving Greece's debt crisis and a recent weakness in the dollar
has put bullion on track for a rise this week.	
    A strong euro, which hovered near 2-1/2-month highs after
upbeat data from Germany, and a softer dollar, which fell
around half a percent this week, checked the drop in gold
prices.  	
    A weak dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback
cheaper for holders of other currencies.	
    Spot gold edged down 0.3 percent to $1,775.14 an
ounce by 0627 GMT, off a three-month high of $1,787.11 hit on
Thursday. U.S. gold lost half a percent to $1,776.90.	
    "There is quite some pressure at the $1,800 level after
prices rose quite rapidly over the past few days, and we may see
some liquidation ahead," said a Hong Kong-based trader.	
    Gold was, however, headed for a weekly rise of 3 percent,
its biggest one-week gain in nearly a month, supported by a key
breakthrough on the chart, among other factors.	
    "Technicals, along with the weakness in the dollar, lead to
gold buying," said Peter Tse, director at ScotiaMocatta in Hong
Kong, adding that gold could test higher levels as it had broken
a key resistance around $1,760 on Wednesday.	
    But he cautioned some profit-taking selling could emerge
ahead of the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting on weekend.	
    "Beware that any correction could be sharp and deep, even
though the trend is still looking fairly good for the time
being," he added.	
    The euro zone debt crisis is expected to dominate the
discussions at the G20 meeting, before a European Union summit
on March 1-2. 	
    Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could rise
towards $1,797 an ounce during the day, said Reuters market
analyst Wang Tao. 	
    	
    Investors will also be watching a second three-year
long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) allotment by the European
Central Bank on Feb 29, which is expected to inject nearly half
a trillion euros to banks. 	
    Hopes of more monetary easing by central banks have helped
gold rally nearly 14 percent this year, as injection of a large
amount of cheap cash raises the inflation outlook, which
burnishes gold's appeal as an inflation hedge.	
    SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed
exchange-traded fund, said its holdings gained 1.209 tonnes to
1,282.796 tonnes by Feb. 23, the highest in more than two
months. 	
    Spot silver was little changed at $35.31 after a
hefty 3 percent rise in the previous session pushed prices to
$35.59, a level unseen in nearly four months.	
    Spot platinum edged down 0.3 percent to $1,713.24,
off a five-month high of $1,731.50 hit in the previous session.
The metal is headed for a weekly rise of about 5 percent.	
    Traders and analysts cautioned that platinum's recent rally
might be losing steam soon.	
    "I wouldn't read too much into it, as the size and volume in
trading of that metal has been fairly light. We have to wait a
few days to confirm that the rally can be sustainable," said Tse
of ScotiaMocatta.	
 	
      Precious metals prices 0627 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1775.14   -4.65   -0.26     13.51
  Spot Silver        35.31   -0.02   -0.06     27.52
  Spot Platinum    1713.24   -4.75   -0.28     22.99
  Spot Palladium    712.72   -4.28   -0.60      9.23
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1776.90   -9.40   -0.53     13.41        12085
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  35.31   -0.25   -0.71     26.47         3793
  Euro/Dollar       1.3358
  Dollar/Yen         80.43

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