Gold edged down on Friday after the dollar firmed against the euro, but trading was thin as investors awaited the release of U.S. second quarter GDP data for clues on the direction of the economy.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold eased 95 cents to $1,167.10 an ounce by 0036 GMT, having risen on Thursday after U.S. stocks slipped on comments by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard that he is worried about the risks the United States could fall into a Japan-style quagmire of falling prices.

* U.S. gold futures for August delivery fell $1.1 $1,167.3 an ounce.

* The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust (GLD.P), said its holdings were unchanged at 1,282.279 metric tons. The holdings hit a record at 1,320.436 metric tons on June 29.

MARKET NEWS

* The Nikkei lost 0.6 percent on Friday after U.S. stocks sagged in volatile trading following weak outlooks from technology companies and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official.

* The dollar eked out small gains against the euro in early trade on Friday, but remained on the defensive near a three-month low against a basket of currencies on concerns U.S. growth may be disappointingly weak.

* U.S. crude prices paused from the previous session's strong gains and hovered at just above $78 a barrel, as traders stayed at the sidelines ahead of second quarter U.S. growth figures due later on Friday.

Precious metals prices at 0036 GMT

Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover

Spot Gold 1167.10 -0.95 -0.08 6.52

Spot Silver 17.54 -0.05 -0.28 4.22

Spot Platinum 1549.00 -11.00 -0.71 5.59

Spot Palladium 483.50 -1.78 -0.37 19.24

TOCOM Gold 3258.00 -33.00 -1.00 -0.03 20642

TOCOM Platinum 4355.00 -20.00 -0.46 -0.59 4211

TOCOM Silver 49.60 -0.70 -1.39 -4.06 121

TOCOM Palladium 1350.00 22.00 +1.66 15.88 282

Euro/Dollar 1.3048

Dollar/Yen 86.53

TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce.

(Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Ed Lane)

Nikkei 225 Gold