PRECIOUS-Gold falls as Greek bailout talks stall

* Broad-based risk aversion on euro worries pressures
equities, gold
* Bullion posts first two-week loss since early December
* Gold holds key support on weekly charts, seen bullish
* Coming up: U.S. retail sales Tuesday

(New throughout, updates prices and market activity; adds link
to graphic)
By Frank Tang and Jan Harvey
NEW YORK/LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Gold fell
on Friday, following losses in the euro and U.S. equities,
as uncertainty over negotiations for a bailout package for
Greece prompted investors to sell the metal and hoard cash.
Bullion posted a second straight weekly loss, as a lack of
concrete steps to avert a ruinous Greek default more than offset
a rally earlier this week fueled by the U.S. Federal Reserve's
long-term outlook for near-zero interest rates.
Technical support lifted gold off a two-week low hit during
he session, but scenes from a workers' strike in Greece and the
government's failure so far to reach a decision on accepting the
bailout pressured financial markets across the board.
"In a situation where the financial system may be at risk,
people may need a lot of cash to buffer themselves against a
potential shock such as a Greek default," said Bart Melek, head
of commodity strategy at TD Securities.
"They may swap out gold along with other assets for cash,"
Melek said.
Spot gold fell 0.9 percent to $1,715.99 an ounce as
of 2:49 p.m. EST (1949 GMT), having hit a low of $1,703.69.
U.S. gold futures for April delivery settled down
$15.90 an ounce at $1,725.30. Trading volume was largely in line
with its 30-day average and set to be the highest this week.
Gold's losses were limited as liquidity improved a day after
the biggest operator of U.S. futures exchanges, CME Group
, lowered trading margins for a range of commodities
contracts including gold, silver and platinum.
Risk aversion drove down equity markets and industrial
commodities such as crude oil and copper, as investors favored
safe-haven U.S. Treasuries, sending the dollar higher against
the euro.
"Today, the market is in risk-off mood again with stock
markets weaker as well," said Alex Zumpfe, a trader at Heraeus
precious metals house. "Gold is facing some selling pressure
after support levels didn't trigger sufficient buying interest.
Gold looks vulnerable to a correction after rising nearly 10
percent so far this year, particularly on possible negative
headlines related to the euro zone debt crisis, analysts said.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT HELD
Bullion notched a 0.5 percent loss for the week, its first
consecutive weekly decline since early December, and Friday's
decline extended the metal's losses to a third straight day.
CitiFX said gold's outlook remains bullish as it held above
support at its 55-week moving average, September 2011 low and
long-term channel base. A breach above $1,802 an ounce could
suggest a rally to record $2,070, it said.

Citigroup's technical research unit said silver could
outperform gold. It cited a possible near-term breakout for the
white metal.
The bullion market largely ignored news Indonesia could ban
exports of some raw materials, including gold and silver, from
2014. Indonesia was the world's seventh-largest gold producer
last year.
Silver was down 1.2 percent at $33.46 an ounce. Spot
platinum was down 99 cents at $1,651 an ounce, while spot
palladium fell 1.3 percent to $697.35.

2:49 PM EST LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT
SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL
US Gold APR 1725.30 -15.90 -0.9 1706.40 1737.20 162,773
US Silver MAR 33.604 -0.313 -0.9 33.170 34.060 44,709
US Plat APR 1659.80 -7.80 -0.5 1631.80 1663.40 6,594
US Pall MAR 703.05 -8.25 -1.2 694.60 711.10 3,176

Gold 1715.99 -15.01 -0.9 1705.15 1734.35
Silver 33.460 -0.420 -1.2 33.220 34.030
Platinum 1651.00 -0.99 -0.1 1635.00 1657.00
Palladium 697.35 -9.40 -1.3 697.00 709.00

TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY
CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG
US Gold 172,313 189,194 193,041 20.98 -0.11
US Silver 54,334 43,597 41,898 33.94 -1.88
US Platinum 6,941 7,134 7,425 19 0.00
US Palladium 3,347 4,042 4,784

(Additional reporting by Veronica Brown in London; Editing by
David Gregorio)