* Safe-haven demand supports gold; commodity weakness weighs
* Gold neutral in $1,528-$1,550 range [ID:nL3E7H205J]
* Coming up: U.S. weekly unemployment claims; 1230 GMT (Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, June 2 (Reuters) - Spot gold prices held steady on Thursday, after rising to a one-month high in the previous session when Moody's downgrading of Greece and weak U.S. economic data sent some investors to seek a safe-haven in bullion.
Fears mounted that the U.S. economy may be running out of steam as data showed that companies hired far fewer workers than expected in May and output in the manufacturing sector hit its lowest level since 2009. [ID:nN01147563]
"We've recently seen a lot of worse-than-expected economic data," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures, "The economic uncertainty will keep gold underpinned."
If gold effectively broke above a key resistance level at $1,550, it could rise above the record high of $1,575.79, set on May 2, Ong said.
Spot gold was barely changed at $1,540.50 an ounce by 0605 GMT. It hit $1,550.14 on Wednesday, its highest since May 3.
U.S. gold
Spot gold is technically neutral, as signals are conflicting before it moves out of a range of $1,528 to $1,550, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. [ID:nL3E7H205J]
The optimism on solving Greek's debt crisis faded as Moody's slashed the country's credit rating by three notches, citing a growing risk that Athens would fail to stabilise its debt position without a restructuring. [ID:nLDE75038N]
"Along with other commodities being sold on weak U.S. data that leads people to expect a slow-down in the economy, I doubt gold will be able to stand on its own unless we make fresh highs very soon," said a Hong Kong-based trader.
"Otherwise investors would likely take profits and gold would move lower along with other metals."
London copper extended losses on Thursday, under pressure from data showing slower growth in the global manufacturing sector, which heightened anxiety that the economic recovery may hit a soft spot. [ID:nLDE7500VU]
Precious metals with industrial applications, such as silver, platinum and palladium, regained some lost ground from the previous session, but remained under pressure.
Spot silver gained 1.1 percent to $37.20, reversing a 4.3 percent drop on Wednesday.
Spot platinum was little changed at $1,813.74, off a one-month high of $1,834 hit in the previous session. Spot palladium was trading at $770.22, up 0.6 percent.
The dollar held steady just above a one-month low against a basket of currencies on Thursday, and the euro remained well-below a recent four-week high against the greenback.
Precious metals prices 0605 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1540.50 0.30 +0.02 8.53 Spot Silver 37.20 0.41 +1.11 20.54 Spot Platinum 1813.74 -0.51 -0.03 2.62 Spot Palladium 770.22 4.24 +0.55 -3.66 TOCOM Gold 4018.00 -1.00 -0.02 7.75 50233 TOCOM Platinum 4773.00 -45.00 -0.93 1.64 10605 TOCOM Silver 96.60 -3.40 -3.40 19.26 1678 TOCOM Palladium 2016.00 -14.00 -0.69 -3.86 221 COMEX GOLD AUG1 1541.60 -1.60 -0.10 8.46 9408 COMEX SILVER JUL1 37.21 -0.49 -1.30 20.25 4368 Euro/Dollar 1.4373 Dollar/Yen 80.95 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)