SINGAPORE, April 19 (Reuters) - - Spot gold prices firmed on Tuesday below their record high, as worries over sovereign debt problems in both Europe and the United States further stoked investors' interest in bullion, while silver took a breather from a recent rally.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold gained 0.8 percent to $1,493.29 an ounce by 0019 GMT, off the record high of $1,497.20 hit in the previous session.
* U.S. gold futures
* Spot gold reached record highs in two consecutive sessions, as the momentum was boosted on Monday after Standard & Poor's threatened to downgrade the U.S. credit rating, amid worries about Europe's debt crisis. [ID:nN18231617][ID:nLDE73H17X]
* Federal Reserve officials offered clashing views on Monday of whether soft U.S. growth or inflation pose a greater risk to the economy but the face-off looked unlikely to alter the Fed's ultra-loose stance for now. [ID:nN18212836]
* Spot silver eased 0.4 percent to $43.16 an ounce, after hitting 31-year highs for three sessions in a row, as the weakness in the equities market affected sentiment in the precious metals that have industrial applications, such as silver and palladium.
* Spot palladium fell 0.7 percent to $734.47.
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MARKET NEWS
* Wall Street fell more than 1 percent on Monday as sovereign debt fears on both sides of the Atlantic and China's monetary tightening hurt the outlook for global economic growth.
* The euro nursed heavy losses early in Asia on Tuesday while the yen gained across the board as worries about sovereign debt problems in Europe and the United States prompted investors to unwind carry trades.
DATA/EVENTS 0500 Japan Consumer confid. index Mar 2011 0658 France Markit/CDAF Mfg FlashP P Apr 2011 0728 Germany Markit/BME MFG Flash PMI Apr 2011 0758 EZ Markit Mfg flash PMI Apr 2011 1145 U.S. ICSC chain stores yy Weekly 1230 U.S. Build permits: change mm Mar 1230 U.S. House starts mm: change Mar 1230 U.S. Housing starts number mm Mar 2350 Japan Exports yy Mar 2011
PRICES
Precious metals prices 0019 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1493.29 11.94 +0.81 5.20 Spot Silver 43.16 -0.16 -0.37 39.86 Spot Platinum 1779.99 7.34 +0.41 0.71 Spot Palladium 734.47 -5.46 -0.74 -8.13 TOCOM Gold 3972.00 5.00 +0.13 6.52 26734 TOCOM Platinum 4765.00 -31.00 -0.65 1.47 5244 TOCOM Silver 114.50 -0.40 -0.35 41.36 1584 TOCOM Palladium 1963.00 -78.00 -3.82 -6.39 195 COMEX GOLD JUN1 1494.10 1.20 +0.08 5.11 2031 COMEX SILVER MAY1 43.18 0.22 +0.51 39.54 1103 Euro/Dollar 1.4234 Dollar/Yen 82.52 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Rujun Shen;Editing by Clarence Fernandez)