* Gold firms as $700 bln bailout plan remains uncertain
* ETF holdings hit record above 700 tonnes (Updates prices)
By Lewa Pardomuan
SINGAPORE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Gold advanced on Thursday on speculative buying driven by uncertainties about when the U.S. Congress might approve a $700 billion bailout plan to help resolve turmoil in financial markets.
Record holdings in SPDR Gold Trust <GLD.P>, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, also supported gold but dealers said there was a lack of new buying from investors, who had already snapped up bullion when it hit an 11-month low.
Gold <XAU=> was trading at $885.90 an ounce, up $4.90 an ounce or 0.56 percent from New York's notional close on Wednesday.
Gold tumbled to $736 on Sept. 11, its weakest in nearly a year, before climbing steadily to hit a 7-week high of $908.80 on Monday. Increases in SDPR holdings reflected buying within the two-week period, when gold jumped more than $170, dealers said.
"We've just got their data now. It's not like they can release that data to us on the day the gold prices rallied. Not the case," said Mark Pervan, an ANZ senior commodity analyst in Melbourne.
"The market at the moment is a bit at a wait and see stance or approach. They are looking at how, particulary the U.S. financial situation unfolds. People are not prepared to buy or sell strongly," he said.
The SPDR Gold Trust <GLD> said its gold holdings rose another 2 percent on Sept 23 to a record 724.94 tonnes. The trust has seen its holdings increase by 18 percent or more than 100 tonnes since Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept 15.
Bush administration officials warned an angry Congress on Wednesday the U.S. financial system would sink into chaos similar to that of the Great Depression unless it approved a $700 billion bailout plan, which has become a political football in the U.S presidential campaign. [
]The euro edged to $1.4640 <EUR=> with the dollar hurt by uncertainties over the bailout plan. [
]"Gold and silver are currently havingdifficulty in finding new buying interest tobreak the respective upside targets of $920 and $14," said William Kwan, bullion director at Bullion Capital Management in Singapore.
"This is mainly due to lack of commitment of fresh funds into precious metals," he said.
Gold was last traded around $920 in July. Silver, which often tracks gold, last hovered around $14 late last month.
Gold futures for December delivery <GCZ8> on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange slipped $3.1 an ounce to $891.9 an ounce.
Platinum was trading at $1,185.00 an ounce, down $7.50 or 0.63 percent from New York's notional close. Precious metals prices at 0203 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 885.90 4.90 +0.56 6.39 Spot Silver 13.28 0.07 +0.53 -10.09 Spot Platinum 1185.00 -7.50 -0.63 -22.04 Spot Palladium 247.00 1.00 +0.41 -32.88 TOCOM Gold 3016.00 -28.00 -0.92 -1.44 15367 TOCOM Platinum 4026.00 -134.00 -3.22 -24.59 10632 TOCOM Silver 455.50 -4.00 -0.87 -15.80 530 TOCOM Palladium 868.00 -15.00 -1.70 -35.75 351 Euro/Dollar 1.4714 Dollar/Yen 105.90 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)