PRECIOUS-Gold rises on firmer euro; palladium near 2-yr high

SINGAPORE, March 8 (Reuters) - Gold ticked higher on Monday on firmer euro after ending about $20 higher last week as a sovereign debt crisis in Greece ignited safe haven buying, which also sent euro-priced bullion to record.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold <XAU=> traded as high as $1,136.85 an ounce and was at $1,133.80 an ounce by 0040 GMT, steady from New York's notional close on Friday, when bullion in euro term <XAUEUR=R> jumped to a lifetime high at 838.26 euros.

* U.S. gold futures for April delivery <GCJ0> was unchanged at $1,135.2 an ounce.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust <GLD>, said its holdings stood at 1,116.120 tonnes as of March 5, up 0.609 tonnes from the previous business day. [GOL/SPDR]

* Palladium <XPD=> was unchanged at $471 an ounce, having risen to around $475 on Friday, its strongest since late March 2008 on optimism about global autocatalyst demand and possible near-term tightness.

MARKET NEWS

* The euro <EUR=> was higher on the U.S. dollar, edging up to $1.3635 from $1.3611 late in New York, helped at the margins by growing support for debt-laden Greece.

* In a bid to calm markets, French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised Greece on Sunday that euro zone countries would help it overcome its financial problems and vowed a crack down on financial speculators Athens blames for its woes. [ID:nLDE6260JZ]

* Oil rose more than 1 percent to hit a seven-week high on Friday after a report showed the United States lost fewer jobs than expected in February and on signals China will maintain its economic stimulus measures. [O/R]

* World equities and oil jumped on Friday on signs of revived consumer spending and after fears a stormy February would worsen the U.S. jobs picture proved false, boosting sentiment about the pivotal labour market. [MKTS/GLOB]

DATA EVENTS

* The following data is expected on Monday <ECON>

- Euro zone sentix index, March (0930 GMT)

- U.S. employment trend index for Feb (1500 GMT)

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[nLDE6260JZ] > Japan bank lending dip shows weak domestic demand [nTOE624050] > Days of "special" yuan policy numbered-c.banker [nTOE62501N] > U.S. deficits higher than Obama budgeted - CBO [nN05168004] > Dubai debt deal this week, Nakheel hurdle-bankers [nLDE6260DE] Precious metals prices at 0040 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 1133.80 0.00 +0.00 3.48 Spot Silver 17.32 0.00 +0.00 2.91 Spot Platinum 1571.50 2.00 +0.13 7.12 Spot Palladium 472.75 1.75 +0.37 16.58 TOCOM Gold 3305.00 43.00 +1.32 1.41 34582 TOCOM Platinum 4553.00 50.00 +1.11 3.93 8075 TOCOM Silver 51.00 1.20 +2.41 -1.35 341 TOCOM Palladium 1369.00 47.00 +3.56 17.51 279 Euro/Dollar 1.3659 Dollar/Yen 90.38 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Himani Sarkar)