By Lewa Pardomuan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold held steady in thin trade on Monday as the euro bounced against the U.S. dollar, but needs to surpass recent peaks to sustain an uptrend fuelled largely by a debt crisis in Europe. The physical market was deserted as jewellers were unsure about direction after bullion fell almost 1 percent on Friday for its biggest one-day decline in a month, squeezed by a rally in the dollar and declines in other commodities. Spot gold was at $1,531.00 an ounce by 0430 GMT after rising as high as $1,532.56 an ounce, still well below a lifetime high around $1,575 struck in May. Newmont Mining Corp, the world's No.2 gold producer, sees prices for the precious metal rising to $1,600 this year and above that next year, on growing demand from Asia's burgeoning middle class. Investors will also wait for a batch of U.S. data such as manufacturing activity reports this week for clues on whether the surprisingly weak U.S. employment data for May was an aberration or the start of a trend. "If we see the dollar continue to strengthen, then it could cause some pressure on commodities as well as for gold," said Ong at Phillip Futures. "This week, I think we'll also be seeing some data like the retail sales figures that will be pretty important for financial markets." The euro regained strength after falling by nearly 2 percent last week, its worst weekly performance since mid-May, but the gains could be short lived, as disputes among policymakers cast a shadow on a meeting next week where euro zone leaders will finalise a new rescue package for Greece.

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