SINGAPORE, April 21 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady above $1,500 on Thursday, the last trading day in many markets before the long Easter weekend, after hitting record highs for four consecutive sessions, fueled by inflation worries and sovereign debt woes.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold gained 0.4 percent to $1,503.45 an ounce by 0014 GMT.
* U.S. gold futures
* U.S. home resales volumes bounced back in March, a hopeful sign for recovery in the housing market, but prices continued to decline. [ID:nN20148012]
* While economic growth in the developed world remains uncertain, solid economic expansion in key developing economies such as China, India and Brazil has pushed up inflation, driving investors to bullion to store their value. [ID:nN2089588]
* Euro zone's sovereign debt continued to worry investors, as a poll showed that Greece will have to restructure its debt in the next two years. [ID:nLDE73J0J0][ID:nTOPEURO]
* Spot silver was nearly flat at $45.21 an ounce.
* Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust continued to rise, up 66.77 tonnes from the previous session to 11,183.69 tonnes by April 20.
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MARKET NEWS
* Big earnings surprises gave a positive turn to investor sentiment on Wednesday, propelling U.S. stocks to their best day in a month and lifting the Dow industrials to their highest in almost three years.
* The dollar index steadied on Thursday, after plunging in the previous session as the prospect that U.S. interest rates would remain at record lows encouraged investors to seek higher returns elsewhere.
* U.S. crude futures
DATA/EVENTS 0800 Germany Ifo business climate Apr 2011 0800 Germany Ifo current conditions Apr 2011 0800 Germany Ifo expectations Apr 2011 1230 U.S. Unemployment claims Weekly 1400 U.S. Leading indicators March 2011
PRICES Precious metals prices 0014 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1503.45 5.30 +0.35 5.92 Spot Silver 45.21 0.01 +0.02 46.50 Spot Platinum 1802.24 11.09 +0.62 1.97 Spot Palladium 756.50 4.75 +0.63 -5.38 TOCOM Gold 3990.00 -18.00 -0.45 7.00 21777 TOCOM Platinum 4818.00 12.00 +0.25 2.60 3398 TOCOM Silver 119.70 1.50 +1.27 47.78 1743 TOCOM Palladium 2020.00 30.00 +1.51 -3.67 163 COMEX GOLD JUN1 1504.10 5.20 +0.35 5.82 1497 COMEX SILVER MAY1 45.24 0.77 +1.74 46.20 1495 Euro/Dollar 1.4520 Dollar/Yen 82.30 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 Himani Sarkar)