SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday,
clinging to its 1-percent gains from the previous session, as
investors await key China growth data for better understanding
of the global growth picture.	
    	
    FUNDAMENTALS	
    * Spot gold was flat at $1,675.06 an ounce by 0053
GMT, on course for 2.2-percent weekly rise, its biggest one-week
gain since late February.	
    * U.S. gold edged down 0.2 percent to $1,676.50.	
    * Italian bond yields fell across the curve after a
better-then-expected showing at the bond auction on Wednesday.
Spanish yields posted modest falls as investors remained nervous
about Spain's effort to solve its debt problem. 	
    * The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits hit a
two-month high last week and more applications were received in
the prior week than initially reported, suggesting a cooling in
the labour market recovery. 	
    * The CME Group said it will cut margins for silver and
palladium futures contracts from the close of business on
Monday. 	
    * COMEX silver lost nearly half a percent to $32.38
an ounce, off a one-week high of $32.58 hit in the previous
session.	
    * Investors are awaiting the economic growth data from
China, due 0200 GMT. Economists polled by Reuters expect China
delivered a fifth successive quarter of slowing annual growth in
the first quarter of 2012 of 8.3 percent, leaving the economy on
track for its weakest full year of expansion in a decade.
 	
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    MARKET NEWS	
    * U.S. stocks scored a second day of solid gains on
Thursday, led by materials and energy stocks, as investors set
aside weak figures on the domestic labor market. 	
    * The euro and commodity currencies held on to overnight
gains in Asia on Friday, but where they go from here hinged
squarely on Chinese growth numbers due later in the day with
markets already positioning for a strong number. 

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