SINGAPORE, May 25 (Reuters) - Gold inched down on Wednesday, having rallied to its highest level in three weeks in the previous session, but sentiment was still underpinned by nagging debt fears in Europe which had prompted investors to ditch the euro.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold fell $1.86 to $1,523.89 an ounce by 0026 GMT after rising as high as $1,527.45 on Tuesday, its strongest since May 4. Bullion was still below a lifetime high around $1,575 an ounce struck in early May.
* Euro-denominated gold held near a record of 1,082.78 euros an ounce touched on Tuesday.
* Silver was little changed at $36.57 an ounce, below a record of $49.51 hit on April 28.
* Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York's SPDR Gold Trust , rose 0.38 percent on Tuesday, while that of the largest silver-backed ETF, New York's iShares Silver Trust , dropped 0.51 percent.
MARKET NEWS
* The Nikkei 225 share average edged higher on Wednesday, with receding worries about a stronger yen encouraging buying on dips, helping offset worries about a slowdown in the U.S. economy that pushed Wall Street lower.
* The euro rose against the dollar on Tuesday after better-than-expected German data, but traders said fears about Greece's finances and Europe's spreading debt crisis continue to cast a long shadow of doubt.
DATA EVENTS (GMT)
1230 U.S. durable goods Apr
1300 EZ CDU conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel
:: U.S. build permits R chg mm Apr-Rev
Precious metals prices 0026 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1523.89 -1.86 -0.12 7.36 Spot Silver 36.57 0.04 +0.11 18.50 Spot Platinum 1764.49 2.94 +0.17 -0.17 Spot Palladium 735.22 2.69 +0.37 -8.04 TOCOM Gold 4030.00 31.00 +0.78 8.07 29518 TOCOM Platinum 4711.00 34.00 +0.73 0.32 3745 TOCOM Silver 96.40 4.00 +4.33 19.01 868 TOCOM Palladium 1952.00 15.00 +0.77 -6.91 132 Euro/Dollar 1.4094 Dollar/Yen 82.03 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)