PRECIOUS-Gold inches up, halts retreat from 18-mth high

                                
 TOKYO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Gold edged up on Friday, paring a
$12 decline from an 18-month high in the previous session as
investors sound out the strength of equity markets, whose rally
has encouraged buying of riskier and alternative assets.
                                
 FUNDAMENTALS
                                
 * Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,014.50 per ounce as of 0018 GMT,
up 0.3 percent from New York's notional close of $1,011.45. It
hit an 18-month high of $1,023.85 on Thursday.
                                
 * Despite some technical indicators suggesting overbought
conditions, sentiment remained firm, with many market
participants still expecting gold to break through its record
high of $1,030.80 an ounce.
                                
 * U.S. gold futures for December delivery <GCZ9> rose 0.3
percent to $1,016.40 an ounce. The contract fell $6.70 to settle
at $1,013.50 on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile
Exchange on Thursday after hitting a high of $1,025.80.
                                
 * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the
SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,086.479
tonnes as of Sept. 17, unchanged from Wednesday. <XAUEXT-NYS-TT>.
[GOL/SPDR]
                                
 * Tokyo's financial markets are closed from Monday to
Wednesday next week for national holidays.
                                
 MARKET NEWS
                                
 * U.S. stocks slipped on Thursday after a three-day runup on
concern recent gains were overextended despite the latest round
of solid economic data. The benchmark S&P 500 was up 58 percent
since its early March lows. [.N]
                                
 * Global equities hit their highest in 11 months on Thursday.
[MKTS/GLOB]
                                
 * The dollar fell to its lowest level in nearly a year
against the euro on Thursday's higher stock prices, and mostly
positive economic data dampened safe-haven demand for the U.S.
currency. [USD/]
                                
* Oil prices slipped slightly in seesaw trade on Thursday as
U.S. equities fell, again raising concern about the economy and a
rebound in energy demand. [O/R]
                                
 DATA EVENTS
                                
 * The following data is expected on Friday: <ECON>
                                
 - German producer prices for Aug (0600 GMT)
                                
 - Euro zone current account for July (0800 GMT)
                                
 - Euro zone investment flows for July (0800 GMT)
                                
 - UK money supply for August (0830 GMT)
                                
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 PRICES
  Precious metals prices at 0000 GMT
 Metal         Last      Change  Pct chg  Day ago pct  MA 30  RSI
 Spot gold    $1013.65    $2.20  +0.22%   +13.00%    $860.10  74
 Spot silver    $17.29    $0.11  +0.64%   +44.32%     $11.29 78
 Spot plat    $1334.00   -$1.50  -0.11%    -0.78%   $1264.58 75
 COMEX gold   $1014.70    $1.80  +0.18%    -0.44%    $970.27 74
 TOCOM gold      2,984      -19  -0.63%    +0.61%      2,918 61
 TOCOM plat      3,920      -26  -0.66%    +0.64%      3,783 67
 Currencies                                              
 Euro/dlr       $1.473  -$0.001  -0.06%    +0.13%
 Dlr/yen         91.20     0.17  +0.19%    +0.36%
 (Reporting by Risa Maeda)