PRECIOUS-Gold near 4-week high; Greek crisis on focus

* Gold due for correction-technicals [ID:nL3E7GV03H]

* Coming Up: U.S. consumer confidence; 1400 GMT

(Updates prices)

By Lewa Pardomuan

SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) - Gold held near its highest in
almost four weeks in volatile trade on Tuesday as lingering
fears about a Greek debt default overshadowed a rebound in the
euro, while silver was heading for its biggest monthly decline
since 2008.

A Wall Street Journal report that Germany could make
concessions on efforts to put together a bailout for Greece
lifted the single currency, but analysts said Grece's debt
crisis deterred investors from searching out higher risk assets.

Spot gold hit an intraday high of $1,540.36, its
highest since May 4, before slipping to $1,536.59 an ounce by
0536 GMT, down 0.09 percent. Gold is down 1.7 percent so far in
May, hovering below a lifetime high around $1,575 touched early
in the month.

"It's crucial for markets to see whether Greece is actually
sustainable and whether it can actually obtain the next 12
billion euros that is required for them to meet their funding
needs in July," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip
Futures in Singapore.

"I think silver was going up too fast and within too short a
period of time. But I think on a longer-term basis after the
sell off, you see that investors are slowly coming back."

Silver was barely changed at $38.12 an ounce, but the
metal is down around 20 percent in May -- its biggest monthly
decline since 2008. Silver struck record at $49.51 an ounce in
April.

The European Union is racing to draft a second bailout
package for Greece to release vital loans next month and avert
the risk of the euro zone country defaulting, EU officials said
on Monday. [ID:nLDE74T0LG]

Germany is considering dropping its push for an early
rescheduling of Greek bonds in order to facilitate a new package
of aid loans for Greece, the Wall Street Journal reported,
citing people familiar with the matter. [ID:nL3E7GU21K]

The euro rose as high as $1.4407 , its highest in
three weeks, piercing its 55-day moving average of $1.4334 and
also $1.4373, the top of the Ichimoku cloud on the daily chart.

The physical market lacked activity, but some speculators
could be tempted to cash in on gold's gains. Demand from top
consumer India was likely to ease as the wedding season comes to
an end.

Indian parents customarily give gold jewellery as gifts.

"It's a very quiet start," said a dealer in Singapore.

"But we saw two-way business yesterday. Thailand and
Indonesia were sellers, while the Indians were the buyers. We
also saw speculators buying silver."

In other markets, The Nikkei rose on predictions of strong
industrial output in the coming months, while solar-energy
shares gained on news that Germany will shut all its nuclear
reactors by 2022.

Credit rating agency Moody's during the midday break placed
Japan's sovereign ratings on review for possible downgrade,
citing concerns about a weak policy response to faltering
economic growth prospects. [ID:nT9E7GH024]

The Shanghai bourse plans to temporarily increase margins on
gold and silver forward contracts on settlement at June 2 and
trading limits on June 3, before the market closes for a public
holiday on June 6. [ID:nL3E7GU06Q]

Precious metals prices 0536 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover
Spot Gold 1536.59 -1.36 -0.09 8.25
Spot Silver 38.12 0.07 +0.18 23.53
Spot Platinum 1802.24 5.89 +0.33 1.97
Spot Palladium 760.22 5.07 +0.67 -4.91
TOCOM Gold 4029.00 29.00 +0.73 8.05 37114
TOCOM Platinum 4775.00 54.00 +1.14 1.68 8877
TOCOM Silver 99.70 0.80 +0.81 23.09 1278
TOCOM Palladium 2002.00 25.00 +1.26 -4.53 340
Euro/Dollar 1.4374
Dollar/Yen 81.33

TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.

(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Lane)