Gold inched up on Monday, adding to a weekly gain of nearly 3 percent last week as fears over a European debt crisis and growing unrest in the Middle East underpinned investor sentiment.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold was steady at $1,390.50 per ounce as of 2330 GMT, compared with $1,388.58 an ounce late in New York on Friday. It hit a five-week high of $1,391.75 on Friday. Bullion has risen for five straight sessions, its longest winning streak since September.

* U.S. gold futures for April delivery were at $1,391.60 per ounce, up $3 or 0.2 percent from Friday's settlement at $1,388.60.

* Silver was up 0.8 percent at $32.73 an ounce after hitting its highest level since 1980 on Friday, at $32.86, driven by short-term speculation and expectations for more demand for the industrial metal in an improving economy.

* Platinum rose 0.4 percent to $1,840 an ounce while palladium hit a 10-year high of $855.50 in early trade.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust, said holdings fell to 1,223.098 metric tons by February 20, its lowest in nine months, from 1,224.008 metric tons on February 15.

* Holdings in the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, iShares Silver Trust, rose to 10,519.05 metric tons by February 18 from 10,438.56 tonnes on February 17.

MARKET NEWS

* Members of a Libyan army unit said they had defected and liberated the country's second city from forces loyal to veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi after scores of protesters were killed in the bloodiest revolt now shaking the Arab world.

* Tokyo's Nikkei stock average .N225 opened down 0.2 percent as profit-taking moved into the market after five consecutive days of gains. .T

* Late arrivals to the speediest rally in stocks since the Great Depression pushed stocks higher for a third week on Friday, despite growing signals of an overheating market. .N

* The euro stood firm early on Monday in Asia after comments from a European Central Bank official kept alive prospects for the ECB to hike rates before the Fed, while the Aussie was resilient in the face of China's latest move to tackle inflation.

Gold Settlement New York European central bank