PRECIOUS-Gold quietly higher; players eye ECB meeting, equities

* U.S. futures volume sharply below average
* Gold struggles against better appetite for riskier assets
* Platinum up, better economic outlook lifts industrial
demand
* Coming up: U.S. jobless claims, productivity data Thursday

By Frank Tang
NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Gold edged up in light volume on
Wednesday, trading in a narrow range as investors focused on an
upcoming European Central Bank meeting and trends in equities
prices against the backdrop of a better economic outlook.
Platinum rose 1.5 percent on concerns over the supply
outlook in the world's top-producing country, South Africa, and
as a brighter global growth outlook boosted investor appetite
for the metal which is largely used as an autocatalyst.
U.S. gold futures volume was sharply below average ahead of
the ECB's policy meeting on Thursday which will be followed by
comments about its monetary outlook. Analysts said the ECB is
unlikely to contemplate an interest rate cut despite the euro's
sharp rise.
Gold found little direction from U.S. stocks which were
little changed on Wednesday. Investors, without any major
economic reports to guide them, awaited fresh incentives to
trade after rallies took the S&P 500 to five-year highs on
Tuesday.
"With major US equity indices near record highs, potential
gold investors chose to stay on the sidelines as risk appetite
improved," said James Steel, metals analyst at HSBC.
Less physical interest after the end of Chinese New Year
stockpiling may leave the metal more susceptible to
changes in short-term risk sentiments, Steel said.
Spot gold was up 0.3 percent at $1,677.16 an ounce at
3:01 PM EST (2001 GMT).
U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled up $5.30
an ounce at $1,678.80, with trading volume about 45 percent
below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.
Gold prices are flat from the start of the year, struggling
for traction as a run of better economic data boosted the appeal
of assets more highly geared to the economic cycle, such as
equities and industrial commodities.
"Certainly the stronger performance of more conventional
assets, certainly equity markets, has taken the shine off gold,"
Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said.
Silver was unchanged at $31.78 an ounce.

INDIA MULLS GOLD IMPORT CURBS
The gold market is digesting the Reserve Bank of India's
statement that it could limit gold imports by banks in "extreme
circumstances," as the world's biggest consumer of gold battles
a record-high current account deficit.
Underpinning prices was Tuesday's data showing record-high
annual gold flows from Hong Kong into China in 2012. China is
vying with India to be the leading buyer of bullion.

The positive economic data that has undermined gold fuelled
interest in the platinum group metals, which are largely used in
auto catalytic converters and are highly sensitive to car
demand.
Platinum hit a near 17-month peak at $1,740 an ounce
and was last up 1.5 percent to $1,731.45 an ounce, while
palladium was down 0.5 percent at $759.50 an ounce,
having earlier reached its highest in 17 months at $769.50.

3:01 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold APR 1678.80 5.30 0.3 1668.80 1680.50 86,244
US Silver MAR 31.877 0.002 0.0 31.600 31.900 25,775
US Plat APR 1736.50 29.30 1.7 1709.20 1744.50 17,137
US Pall MAR 764.80 -0.65 -0.1 757.10 772.90 5,507

Gold 1677.16 4.56 0.3 1668.73 1679.10
Silver 31.780 0.000 0.0 31.630 31.870
Platinum 1731.45 25.46 1.5 1711.25 1740.00
Palladium 759.50 -3.94 -0.5 760.77 769.50

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 95,070 175,808 172,805 13.64 -0.01
US Silver 28,312 44,350 51,604 20.96 0.48
US Platinum 17,368 17,226 10,999 17.24 0.12
US Palladium 6,030 4,144 4,714