Gold prices were little changed on Wednesday at just above $880 an ounce, stuck in its recent range as waning investor interest in safe-haven assets was partly offset by heightened physical demand from India. FUNDAMENTALS * Gold was trading at $882.90 an ounce, compared to New York's notional close of $882.25 on Tuesday. Prices fell a day ago, relinquishing early gains as global share prices arrested their decline and overshadowed credit jitters that had previously heightened bullion's appeal. * The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR Gold Trust GLD, said holdings remained unchanged at 1,105.98 tonnes as of April 21 after investor outflows early this week reached their biggest since early September. Holdings hit a record 1,127.68 tonnes on April 9. [GOL/SPDR] * But eroding investor interest has been partly met by a recovery in physical buying by India, the world's largest importer, with trader MMTC Ltd saying it would import 9-10 tonnes this month, boosting the country's total March purchases after several months of next-to-nil imports. [ID:nDEL002814] MARKET NEWS * The latest major economic news did little to change broad market sentiment, with a 45.6 percent drop in Japan's exports roughly in line with expectations as the world's second-largest economy showed few of the "green shoots" of recovery now appearing in other countries. [ID:nTKU103379] * Nikkei was up 1 percent. [.T] * A surge in financial shares lifted Wall Street on Tuesday after the U.S. Treasury Secretary said American banks have enough capital, while the euro gained against the dollar on a jump in German investor confidence. [MKTS/GLOB] * The euro rose against the dollar and yen on Tuesday as data showing sharp improvement in German investor confidence lifted stock markets and encouraged market participants to wade back into higher-risk trades. [USD/] DATA EVENTS * The following data is expected on Wednesday: ECON - UK labour market statistics for February and March are due. (0830 GMT) - Weekly U.S. mortgage market index is due. (1100 GMT) - British Finance Minister Alistair Darling presents his annual budget statement. (1130 GMT) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks. (1300 GMT) - U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency issues Home Price Index for February. (1400 GMT) RELATED NEWS > Gold turns lower as shares rally; rhodium flies [GOL/] > US's Geithner: most banks have adequate capital [ID:nN21535633] > IMF sees $4.1 trln toxic asset bill; sentimenmt lifts [TOPWRAP] > Commodities up mildly after assurances on US banks[ID:nLL53764] PRICES Precious metals prices at 0007 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg Day ago pct MA 30 RSI Spot gold $882.70 $0.45 +0.05% -1.59% $860.10 45 Spot silver $12.04 $0.05 +0.42% +0.50% $11.29 36 Spot plat $1157.00 $4.50 +0.39% -0.22% $1157.67 44 COMEX gold $882.40 -$4.80 -0.54% +1.68% $909.01 45 TOCOM gold 0,000 -2783-100.00% -100.00% 2,889 39 TOCOM plat 0,000 -3753-100.00% -100.00% 3,613 39 Currencies Euro/dlr $1.294 $0.000 +0.02% +0.15% Dlr/yen 98.50 -0.15 -0.15% +0.56%

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