* Gold little changed after weak China GDP data * SPDR Gold Trust holdings stay at record high By Risa Maeda TOKYO, April 16 (Reuters) - Gold nudged down on Thursday, hovering below $890 per ounce, in the absence of strong physical buying and as recent strength in stocks dented its attractiveness as an alternative asset. Bullion rose a touch on Wednesday on strong demand from India, the world's top gold consumer, ahead of a key gold-buying festival at end-April, but this did not exert a strong influence on the market on Thursday. [ID:nBOM188197] "There is a little bit of a recovery in physical demand in India, which is related to the season. But it is not strong," said Dick Poon, a division manager at Heraeus Ltd in Hong Kong. "I think money is still being put back into the equity markets ... We may test the level below $880 again because there is no strong buying, and the holdings at ETFs aren't rising for the time being," he said. Spot gold stood at $888.90 per ounce at 0340 GMT, down 0.2 percent from New York's notional close of $890.60. It last closed above $900 on April 2 before hitting a 10-week low of $864.30 last week. Gold was little changed after data showing China's economy grew 6.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the weakest growth on record but posted other data, such as industrial output, that signalled some optimism. [ID:nPEK237287] Wednesday's data showing a surprise 0.1 percent dip in U.S. March consumer prices, the first annual drop in 54 years, weighed on gold as it hurt the metal's allure as an inflation hedge. [ID:nN14446536] But bullion's fall was halted at $887 as traders said inflation remained a long-term concern due to the massive economic stimulus plans announced by central banks worldwide. Technical charts suggest gold has maintained its momentum, staying above its 100-day moving average of $886. But investors mostly stayed on the sidelines, waiting for clearer signals on the outlook for the financial sector and equity markets, with a slew of corporate earnings due in the coming weeks. The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust , said its holdings as of April 15 remained unchanged at a record 1,127.68 tonnes, a level first reached on April 9. [GOL/SPDR] Precious metals prices at 0326 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 890.00 -0.60 -0.07 6.88 Spot Silver 12.71 -0.04 -0.31 -13.95 Spot Platinum 1223.00 6.50 +0.53 -19.54 Spot Palladium 236.00 1.50 +0.64 -35.87 TOCOM Gold 2853.00 10.00 +0.35 -6.76 10319 TOCOM Platinum 3936.00 36.00 +0.92 -26.28 8979 TOCOM Silver 404.70 3.40 +0.85 -25.19 174 TOCOM Palladium 767.00 6.00 +0.79 -43.23 194 Euro/Dollar 1.3216 Dollar/Yen 99.16 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except for TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Additional reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Ben Tan)

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