* Euro zone crisis supports sentiment, dollar weighs
* Gold priced in euro, sterling hit record highs
* Spot gold due for correction to $1,541.41-technicals
* Coming up: U.S. international trade data, May; 1230 GMT (Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, July 12 (Reuters) - Spot gold held steady around $1,550 on Tuesday, as investors fled from risky assets on fears of a spreading euro zone debt crisis, but a stronger dollar and weak equities weighed on sentiment.
Euro zone finance ministers promised cheaper loans, longer maturities and a more flexible rescue fund on Monday to help Greece and other EU debtors in a bid to stop financial contagion engulfing Italy and Spain.
Ministers from the 17 countries that share the European currency on Monday also vowed to safeguard stability in the euro area and promised new measures "shortly", but set no deadline.
"We'll probably see a lot of support for gold from rising risk aversion due to concerns of escalating debt in Europe," said Natalie Robertson, a commodities analyst at ANZ.
"Although the rising dollar could pare back some of the interest in gold."
The dollar hit its highest against a basket of currencies in more than three months , as the euro sank to a four-month low against the greenback after comments from the new IMF head added to uncertainties about Greece's debt crisis.
The International Monetary Fund is not yet ready to discuss conditions or terms of a second Greek bailout, the fund's new managing director, Christine Lagarde, said on Monday, adding that Italian economic growth had to improve, in addition to fiscal consolidation, to restore confidence?.
Spot gold edged down 0.2 percent at $1,549.90 per ounce by 0556 GMT, off $1,556.59 hit in the previous session -- its highest since June 22.
U.S. gold
Gold priced in sterling and euro both hit record highs.
Gold has potential to reach for its all-time high of $1,575.59 hit on May 2, but rapid sell-off in equities and other commodities could spread to gold as investors sell bullion to cover losses elsewhere.
Asian stocks suffered sharp losses on Tuesday on escalating worries about the euro zone's debt crisis.
Technical analysis suggested that gold might be due for a correction as it approaches a resistance at $1,557.75, the June 22 high, said Wang Tao, a Reuters market analyst.
China, the world's largest gold producer, said its gold output in the first five months of the year grew 3.67 percent from a year earlier to 132.02 tonnes. The country produced 340.88 tonnes of gold in 2010, up 8.6 percent on the year.
Stubbornly high inflation in China has driven investors to bullion, seen as a safe storage of value.
China's inflation quickened to a three-year high in June, and investors are watching out for further tightening measures from Beijing, who vowed to fight rising prices as its top priority.
"Worries that China could continue raising rates after the stronger-than-expected CPI figures over the weekend may also weigh on gold in the near-term," said Tom Pawlicki, an analyst at MF Global in a research note.
Spot silver pared early gains to $35.71, barely changed from the previous session. It hit a one-month high of $36.89 in the previous session.
U.S. silver
Precious metals prices 0556 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1549.90 -3.70 -0.24 9.19 Spot Silver 35.71 0.03 +0.08 15.72 Spot Platinum 1717.00 -4.05 -0.24 -2.86 Spot Palladium 764.50 0.50 +0.07 -4.38 TOCOM Gold 4000.00 -22.00 -0.55 7.27 103801 TOCOM Platinum 4480.00 -69.00 -1.52 -4.60 15133 TOCOM Silver 92.10 -2.50 -2.64 13.70 619 TOCOM Palladium 1984.00 -37.00 -1.83 -5.39 456 COMEX GOLD AUG1 1550.70 1.50 +0.10 9.10 10922 COMEX SILVER SEP1 35.79 0.09 +0.24 15.66 2632 Euro/Dollar 1.3959 Dollar/Yen 80.13 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Editing by Ed Lane)