PRECIOUS-Gold flat as investors shift focus to US fiscal talks

SINGAPORE, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Gold traded flat on Wednesday,
after falling for two consecutive sessions, as the euphoria over
a Greek debt deal fizzled and investors shifted their focus to
U.S. negotiations to avert a looming fiscal disaster in the
world's largest economy.
But gold's appeal as a refuge from uncertain economic
conditions remained intact as indicated by the holdings of SPDR
Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded
fund, which rose to a record high.

FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold traded little changed at $1,741.94 an
ounce by 0024 GMT, after two days of decline.
* U.S. gold was also flat, at $1,742.40.
* President Barack Obama on Tuesday launched a public
relations push for his bid to raise taxes on wealthy Americans,
but U.S. lawmakers remained deadlocked over dramatic, year-end
tax increases and spending cuts known as the "fiscal cliff."

* The Greek government and financial markets were cheered on
Tuesday by an agreement between euro zone finance ministers and
the International Monetary Fund to reduce Greece's debt, paving
the way for the release of urgently needed aid loans.

* A gauge of planned U.S. business spending increased in
October by the most in five months, raising cautious optimism
that the sharp cutbacks in capital investment during the summer
are abating.
* Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust rose to a record high of
1,345.813 tonnes on Nov. 27.
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MARKET NEWS
* U.S. stocks slid on Tuesday in a choppy session, losing
ground in the last hour before the close after Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid expressed disappointment that there has been
"little progress" in dealing with the "fiscal cliff."
* The euro moved away from the previous session's one-month
high against the dollar in early Asian trading Wednesday as
investors' relief about the new debt target for Greece turned to
unease about the looming U.S. fiscal crisis.

DATA/EVENTS
0900 Euro zone Money M3 annual growth Oct
1500 U.S. New home sales Oct
1900 U.S. Federal Reserve Beige Book
Euro zone finance ministers to hold press conference
Germany inflation data for November

PRICES
Precious metals prices 0024 GMT
Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume
Spot Gold 1741.94 0.29 +0.02 11.39
Spot Silver 34.01 -0.01 -0.03 22.82
Spot Platinum 1607.50 -0.75 -0.05 15.40
Spot Palladium 666.25 1.04 +0.16 2.11
COMEX GOLD DEC2 1742.40 0.10 +0.01 11.21 1334
COMEX SILVER DEC2 34.02 0.04 +0.11 21.87 885
Euro/Dollar 1.2937
Dollar/Yen 82.14
COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months

(Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Himani Sarkar)