PRECIOUS-Gold slips but holds near record; ETF unchanged

 * Gold falls, jewellers sell scrap

 * For a technical outlook on gold, click on [ID:nSGE64B00R]

 * Coming Up: Weekly U.S. Mortgage Market Index; 1100 GMT
 (Updates prices, adds quotes)

 By Lewa Pardomuan

 SINGAPORE, May 12 (Reuters) - Gold ticked lower on
Wednesday but held near a lifetime high struck the previous day
as investors bet the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond
Greece.

 Jewellers in Asia cashed in on Tuesday's rally to a record
$1,233.65 an ounce and dealers said the metal was likely to
consolidate at current levels. But any correction could be
limited as a $1-trillion European rescue package had done
little to ease fears of euro zone debt contagion.

 "I think sentiment is slightly bullish from here. We don't
really know where the top is," said Ronald Leung, director of
Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong. "We may be talking about
$1,250."

 Spot gold XAU= was at $1,227.50 an ounce by 0248 GMT,
down $4.55 an ounce from New York's notional close on Tuesday,
when safe haven buying helped it surpass December's record.

 Some dealers said gains in silver XAG= were partly
responsible for gold's rally. The white metal jumped to a
five-month high on Tuesday on buying by funds attracted by the
metal's cheap prices compared to gold, platinum and palladium,

 Gold priced in euro XAUEUR=R hit another record high on
Wednesday.

 For a graphic of the gold technical outlook, click:
 here

 "We've seen the worst and the market now needs a few days
to consolidate. We'll probably wait again for leads from the
stock markets today," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at
Investec Australia in Sydney.

 The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR
Gold Trust (GLD: Quote, Profile, Research), said its holdings were unchanged at record
high of 1,192.150 tonnes as of May 11.

 U.S. gold futures for June delivery GCM0 added $10.3 an
ounce to $1,230.6 an ounce.

 Japan's Nikkei average edged up 0.5 percent on Wednesday,
defying declines in New York but there were lingering fears the
bailout package for Europe won't solve the region's deep-seated
problems. [.T] [.N]

 The euro dropped on persistent worries about the euro
zone's ability to to deliver the drastic spending cuts and tax
increases needed to tackle its debt crisis, while sterling held
gains after a new UK coalition government was formed.
 Precious metals prices at 0247 GMT
 Metal             Last    Change  Pct chg  YTD pct chg
Turnover
 Spot Gold        1227.50   -4.55   -0.37     12.03
 Spot Silver        19.24   -0.04   -0.21     14.32
 Spot Platinum    1692.75   -9.25   -0.54     15.39
 Spot Palladium    530.00   -2.00   -0.38     30.70
 TOCOM Gold       3666.00   75.00   +2.09     12.49       
53038
 TOCOM Platinum   5062.00   62.00   +1.24     15.54       
13870
 TOCOM Silver       58.00    2.70   +4.88     12.19         
951
 TOCOM Palladium  1576.00   39.00   +2.54     35.28         
393
 Euro/Dollar       1.2643
 Dollar/Yen         92.66
 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.