SINGAPORE, Feb 29 (Reuters) - Gold hovered below a
three-month high on Wednesday, after rallying 1 percent in the
previous session, supported by expectations for more cheap loans
to be offered by the European Central Bank later in the day.	
    	
    FUNDAMENTALS	
    * Spot gold was little changed at $1,784.64 an ounce
by 0026 GMT, after hitting $1,789.40 on Tuesday, its highest
level since mid-November.	
    * U.S. gold edged down 0.1 percent to $1,786.50.	
    * Investors will be watching the second tranche of a
three-year, low-interest financing operation by the European
Central Bank later in the day. The expectation of the liquidity
boost helped lift gold to its highest in more than three months
on Tuesday.  	
    * A survey showed that confidence in the euro zone's economy
rose for a second successive month in February, confirming a
wider stabilisation across Europe that probably signals only a
mild recession this year. 	
    * Uncertainty lingers over the euro zone's effort to solve
the debt crisis, as Ireland planned a referendum on a euro zone
budget discipline pact and a German court overruled government
efforts on a fast-track panel on bailout funds. 	
    * The latest U.S. data painted a mixed picture, showing that
consumer confidence rose to a one-year high this month while
orders for long-lasting factory goods plunged sharply.
 	
    * Spot silver inched down 0.1 percent to $36.86,
after surging more than 4 percent and reaching a five-month high
of $37.21 in the previous session. 	
    * Spot platinum gained 0.1 percent to $1,716.49.	
    * Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest
platinum producer, said on Tuesday the costs of an illegal
strike at its key Rustenburg operation in South Africa have
reached 100,000 ounces and a loss of income of 2 billion rand
($263.66 million).  	
    * For the top stories on metals and other news, click
, or 	
    	
    MARKET NEWS	
    * The Dow closed above 13,000 for the first time since May
2008 on Tuesday and the S&P 500 also hit a milestone, as buoyant
U.S. consumer confidence data and a sharp drop in oil prices
nudged the nearly five-month rally forward. 	
    * The euro and commodity currencies held their ground in
Asia on Wednesday as hopes that European banks will take up a
large offer of cheap three-year cash from the European Central
Bank bolstered risk appetite.  	
    	
    DATA/EVENTS	
 0500  Japan     Construction orders yy   Jan 2012                       
 0530  India     Quarterly GDP yy         Feb 2012                       
 0855  Germany   Unemployment rate sa     Feb 2012                       
 1000  EZ        Inflation, final yy      Jan 2012                
 1020  EZ        Results of ECB's LTRO       
 1330  U.S.      GDP                      Oct                            
 1445  U.S.      Chicago PMI              Feb                            
 2350  Japan     Business capex (MOF) yy  Oct 2011                
    	
    PRICES	
   	
 Precious metals prices 0026 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1784.64    0.65   +0.04     14.12
  Spot Silver        36.86   -0.05   -0.14     33.12
  Spot Platinum    1716.49    2.25   +0.13     23.22
  Spot Palladium    718.72   -0.50   -0.07     10.15
  COMEX GOLD APR2  1786.50   -1.90   -0.11     14.02         2096
  COMEX SILVER MAR2  37.03   -0.12   -0.31     32.63           13
  Euro/Dollar       1.3474
  Dollar/Yen         80.57
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
 	

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