* Gold trades listless; awaits direction
    * Spot gold targets $1,611.80/oz - technicals
    * Coming up: U.S. retail sales, March; 0830 GMT

 (Adds details, comments; updates prices)	
    By Rujun Shen	
    SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday
in listless trading as persistent concerns about the euro zone's
finances and disappointing U.S. economic data data put off most
investors.	
    Spot gold edged up 0.1 percent to $1,644.15 an ounce
by 0327 GMT, on course for a 0.9-percent weekly fall.	
    U.S. gold inched up 0.2 percent to $1,645.10.	
    Technical analysis suggested that spot gold could fall to
$1,611.80 an ounce during the day, said Reuters market analyst
Wang Tao. 	
    Economists believe Spain and Italy will not need
international bailouts as they battle through their debt crises,
but investors remained worried, as evident in the rising yields
of the bonds Spain auctioned on Thursday.
  	
    Gold has fallen more than 1 percent so far this month, in
tandem with equities and other commodities, after markets
rallied in the first quarter on brighter global economic outlook
and prospects of accommodative monetary policy.	
    Gold prices have been trapped in a range of roughly between
$1,620 and $1,680 this month.	
    "Gold lacks its own momentum to move anywhere, and we are
waiting for the next major U.S. data, or a major development in
Europe," said Peter Tse, director at ScotiaMocatta in Hong Kong.	
    Tse said the presidential election in France, scheduled to
kick off on Sunday and which a Socialist president is expected
to win, could put pressure on the euro and trigger wild
fluctuations in share prices. 	
    	
    U.S jobs data The number of Americans claiming unemployment
benefit for the first time fell less than expected last week,
suggesting a slowdown in job creation and casting doubts about
the strength of the economic recovery.	
    Other data showed factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic
region slowed sharply this month and U.S. home resales fell for
a second month in March. 	
    Investors are also closely watching the Federal Open Market
Committee meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday during which the
Federal Reserve is expected to adopt a wait-and-see approach
towards easing monetary policy, although the sluggish economic
data has kept up hopes for another round of quantitative easing.
 	
    Physical gold buying in Asia was sluggish, even as India
approaches a key gold-buying festival early next week.	
    "After the strike by Indian jewellers, we saw some buying at
the initial stage but there hasn't been much follow-up ever
since," said Tse, adding that a price drop to below $1,600 could
lure buyers back. 	
    Spot silver was little changed at $31.74, headed for
a 0.9-percent weekly rise, its biggest one-week gain in nearly
two months.	
    Silver fabrication demand should climb 3 to 5 percent this
year as end-users replenish inventories that ran low late last
year due to an economic slowdown, but prices are unlikely to
test record highs as investor buying may remain subdued, said
the head of Thomson Reuters GFMS.   	
    	
 	
 Precious metals prices 0327 GMT
  Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg    Volume
  Spot Gold        1644.15    1.67   +0.10      5.14
  Spot Silver        31.74    0.02   +0.06     14.63
  Spot Platinum    1573.45   -1.15   -0.07     12.95
  Spot Palladium    661.55    1.80   +0.27      1.39
  COMEX GOLD JUN2  1645.10    3.70   +0.23      5.00         3593
  COMEX SILVER MAY2  31.73   -0.05   -0.15     13.67          589
  Euro/Dollar       1.3144
  Dollar/Yen         81.53
  COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months
 	

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