PRECIOUS-Gold steady but weak risk appetite weighs

* Equities and euro eyed as gauge of risk appetite

* SPDR Gold ETF holdings flat, iShares Silver Trust inches up

By Chikako Mogi

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices steadied above $1,060 on Tuesday, but sentiment continued to be hurt by worries over fiscal stability in Europe, curbing appetite for riskier assets such as commodities.

The precious metal's recovery from three-month lows hit last week has been limited due to technical selling and fund liquidation amid an uncertain economic outlook.

Spot gold <XAU=> was at $1,068.70 per ounce as of 0545 GMT, up 0.6 percent from New York's notional close of $1,062.80.

U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> firmed 0.3 percent to $1,069.10 per ounce, compared to $1,066.20 on the COMEX division of NYMEX.

On Friday, spot gold traded as low as $1,043.75, its lowest since Nov. 2, as the euro fell on fears over the outlook for some euro zone economies.

"Gold is just following after the euro came off lows," said a manager at a Japanese trading firm.

"No strong buying appetite is seen in the metal for now, except that some physical demand was seen in Europe overnight," the manager said.

Gold prices in euro terms <XAUEUR=R> picked up this week from a one-month low marked on Friday. The trough was over 5 percent below a record above 810 euros an ounce marked in December, according to Reuters data.

Concerns about the fiscal stability of Greece, Portugal and Spain have been rattling global markets over the last two weeks.

"As long as money is flowing out of risk assets such as commodities into the dollar, commodities are likely to remain top-heavy," Yuichi Ikemizu, Tokyo branch manager for Standard Bank, said in a report.

"It will likely be a quiet day, with investors keeping their eyes on stocks and the dollar," he said.

The euro inched up against the dollar but remained within sight of an 8-½ month low hit last week. [USD/]

Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average <.N225> edged down 0.2 percent to a two-month closing low on Tuesday. [.T]

The U.S. Dow closed below 10,000 for the first time since November on Monday as investors sold bank shares due to heightened concerns about the euro zone's sovereign debt troubles. [.N]

Among other precious metals, platinum <XPT=> was up 0.7 percent at $1,482.50 an ounce from New York's notional close of $1,472 and palladium <XPD=> was up 0.3 percent at $405.25.

Tuesday's news that Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> will recall around 436,000 hybrid cars worldwide, including the 2010 Prius model, has had little impact on prices of these precious metals, which are partly used to clean vehicle exhaust fumes.

The announcement came on the heels of two other massive recalls. [ID:nSGE61800X]

"We should wait and see how consumers judge Toyota products," the Japanese trading firm's manager said.

The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings were at 1,106.378 tonnes as of Feb. 8, unchanged from the previous business day. The holdings hit a record high of 1,134.03 tonnes on June 1. [GOL/SPDR]

The holdings rose late last week for the first time since late December, suggesting investor demand was firm at lower price levels.

The world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, the iShares Silver Trust <SLV>, said its silver holdings stood at 9,397.56 tonnes as of Feb. 8, up 0.5 percent or 45.79 tonnes from the previous business day. [ID:nTOE617095]

Precious metals prices at 0605 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1068.80 6.00 +0.56 -2.46 Spot Silver 15.15 0.17 +1.13 -9.98 Spot Platinum 1482.00 10.00 +0.68 1.02 Spot Palladium 405.75 1.75 +0.43 0.06 TOCOM Gold 3084.00 12.00 +0.39 -5.37 48219 TOCOM Platinum 4257.00 30.00 +0.71 -2.83 14248 TOCOM Silver 44.10 0.10 +0.23 -14.70 476 TOCOM Palladium 1163.00 20.00 +1.75 -0.17 303 Euro/Dollar 1.3701 Dollar/Yen 89.44 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Additional reporting by Risa Maeda; Editing by Joseph Radford)