PRECIOUS-Gold flat as dollar drops, silver down

* Gold flat as dollar drop, EU uncertainty in focus

* Kodak cites silver rise for pricing policy change

* Palladium strong, but not stellar, in 2011-Matthey (Recasts, adds comment, updates prices, changes byline, dateline, previously LONDON)

By Frank Tang

NEW YORK, May 16 (Reuters) - Gold gyrated around unchanged on Monday, as lingering uncertainty about indebted euro zone countries pressured equity markets along with gold, offsetting the positive influence of a weaker dollar.

Silver was weak, down 3 percent at one point, as funds continued to liquidate bullish bets and U.S. photography company Eastman Kodak , a top industrial consumer of silver, said it is adjusting its film products pricing policies in response to the "unprecedented rise" in silver prices.

Precious metals investors were eagerly awaiting regulatory filings by hedge fund managers and institutional investments due later on Monday, which will show changes in precious metal holdings in their portfolios including during the first quarter.

"Those problems around the euro zone are still there, and they might reemerge even this week," said Adam Klopfenstein, senior market strategist of MF Global's Lind-Waldock unit.

Spot gold gained 54 cents to $1,493.79 an ounce by 1:06 p.m. EDT (1706 GMT). Bullion had hit a record high of $1,575.79 on May 2. U.S. gold was flat at $1,493.60 an ounce.

Euro zone finance ministers meeting in Brussels are expected to back a bailout for Portugal and tell Greece it must deliver on agreed fiscal and privatization targets if it wants new emergency funding next year.

Losses in bullion were limited as the dollar fell 1 percent against the euro, which was boosted by sovereign demand after last week's sharp sell-off, and as optimism grew a European Union meeting would support Greece and avert a restructuring of the country's debt. U.S. equities were also lower.[FRX/]

KODAK ADJUSTS PRICING, CITES SILVER

Silver fell 3.1 percent to $34.18 an ounce. The industrial precious metal has crashed about 30 percent since hitting a record high of $49.51 on April 28.

A wave of hot money from funds fueled a rally in which the silver price nearly doubled over four months.

Managed money continued to liquidate positions even after U.S regulatory data showed big hedge funds and speculators cut their bullish bets in the silver futures market in the week through May 10. [ID:nN1627700]

On industrial demand, Eastman Kodak said that a majority of the silver contained within its color film and paper products was removed during processing, allowing the company to use a variable pricing strategy. Silver is a key raw material for Kodak.

"We've seen some very steep curves in commodity pricing recently, including an extraordinary rise in cost of silver," said Brad Kruchten, president of Kodak's film, photofinishing and entertainment Group.

In late April, Kodak CEO Antonio Perez told analysts on a conference call that "We are indexing our contracts, we are hedging, and we are moving as fast as we can with the part of the portfolio that is not silver-dependent."

PLATINUM GROUND METALS IN FOCUS

Precious metal refiner Johnson Matthey said on Monday that palladium attracted so much speculative money last year that it would struggle to lure enough new investors to repeat the 2011 rally. [ID:nLDE74C16H] <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Take a Look on Johnson Matthey report [ID:nLDE74F1DR] Reuters Insider interview: [ID:nRTV218602] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Palladium gained 1.1 percent to $715.60 an ounce. Platinum was up 19 cents at $1,756.24 an ounce. Prices at 1:06 p.m. EDT (1706 GMT)

LAST NET PCT YTD

CHG CHG CHG US gold 1493.60 0.00 0.0% 5.1% US silver 34.185 -0.828 -2.4% 10.5% US platinum 1760.80 -8.50 -0.5% -1.0% US palladium 715.60 9.15 1.3% -10.9% Gold 1493.79 0.54 0.0% 5.2% Silver 34.18 -1.10 -3.1% 10.8% Platinum 1756.24 0.19 0.0% -0.6% Palladium 713.72 8.02 1.1% -10.7% Gold Fix 1500.75 5.75 0.4% 6.4% Silver Fix 34.35 -185.00 -5.1% 12.1% Platinum Fix 1760.00 4.00 0.2% 1.7% Palladium Fix 713.00 5.00 0.7% -9.9% (Additional reporting by Pratima Desai and Sue Thomas London, Rujun Shen in Singapore; editing by Alden Bentley)