* Gold edges up on firmer euro, oil * Investors keep an eye on U.S. auto bailout, OPEC meeting * Nikkei up 1.1 pct (Updates prices) SINGAPORE, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Gold inched up on Wednesday as the euro strengthened against the U.S. dollar and oil rebounded, with investors also keeping an eye on the stock market amid gears of a growing recession. Markets also digested news that U.S lawmakers had reached a tentative deal to bail out automakers. Analysts said this would boost market confidence and stocks, and could be supportive of gold. Gold was trading at $776.35 an ounce, up $0.85 from New York's notional close on Tuesday, when it moved in a volatile $17 an ounce range. A sell-off in equities had forced investors to ditch gold to cover losses, sending bullion to a 13-month low around $680 an ounce late in October. A firmer euro against the dollar helped lift gold but demand from jewellers had subsided, said Ronald Leung, director of Lee Cheong Gold Dealers in Hong Kong, adding that dealers also expected book squaring as the year-end approached. "Sentiment is neither bullish nor bearish. Fears of a recession make it bearish but I think safe-haven buying also makes it bullish," he said. Gold is struggling to sustain an uptrend since hitting a two-month high of $931 in early October, mainly due to weakness in oil and equities. Bullion was 25 percent below a lifetime high of $1,030.80 struck in March, when fears of rising energy costs spurred buying. "There's bargain hunting in Japan because OPEC will cut production next week. So we also see short-covering in the crude oil market," said Kazuhito Saito of Interes Capital Management in Tokyo. Oil rebounded by more than $1 a barrel to under $44 in light bargain hunting on Wednesday, after slumping 4 percent overnight on the back of lowered forecasts for U.S. energy demand and fears of a deepening global recession. [O/R] OPEC, facing a slide in oil prices since July of over $100 a barrel, has already agreed to cut about 2 million barrels per day of output to support prices and members are leaning towards more supply cuts at the Dec. 17 meeting in Algeria. [ID:nL3531815] The euro firmed to $1.2949 . Investors were wary of taking on risk as Washington stepped closer to bailing out its top three automakers. [ID:nN09276302] The Nikkei <.N225> gained 1.1 percent on a softer yen, with investors also taking some comfort in machinery orders data that some said was not as bad as they had feared. [.T] The White House and congressional Democrats reached an agreement in principle on a proposal for bailing out U.S. automakers, officials said, though final details still needed to be ironed out and put in writing. [ID:nN09276302] Platinum , which is used in auto catalytic converters, was trading at $815.00 an ounce, up $11.50 from New York notional close, benefiting from the tentative bailout deal. New York gold futures added $3.0 an ounce to $777.2 in electronic trade. Precious metals prices at 0306 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 776.35 0.85 +0.11 -6.77 Spot Silver 9.89 0.10 +1.02 -33.04 Spot Platinum 815.00 11.50 +1.43 -46.38 Spot Palladium 172.50 -1.50 -0.86 -53.13 TOCOM Gold 2310.00 33.00 +1.45 -24.51 14482 TOCOM Platinum 2464.00 55.00 +2.28 -53.85 5845 TOCOM Silver 292.90 1.40 +0.48 -45.86 97 TOCOM Palladium 535.00 17.00 +3.28 -60.40 66 Euro/Dollar 1.2931 Dollar/Yen 92.37 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Ben Tan)

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