MARKETS-PRECIOUS/ (UPDATE 3) (Updates throughout with comment, details; prvs SINGAPORE) * Gold dented by risk aversion, strong dollar * Platinum sees longest losing streak in a year * Coming Up: U.S. unemployment claims weekly; 1230 GMT By Amanda Cooper LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday after the U.S. dollar hit a three week-high against the euro as concern escalated over the impact of the Greek debt crisis on the euro zone, knocking commodities. The Greek prime minister said he would form a new government, while euro zone finance ministers conceded that an agreement over a second international bailout for Athens would take longer than expected. That pummelled the euro and pushed the cost of insuring Greek and several other peripheral euro zone nations' debt against default to record highs. It also dented palladium, copper and gold, which normally profits from such environments. On Wednesday the VIX options volatility index, the so-called "fear gauge" of Wall Street, hit three-month highs. Spot gold fell $4.99 an ounce to $1,524.86 an ounce by 0557 GMT after rising for a second straight session to around $1,533 on Wednesday on declines in equities. Gold is well below a lifetime high around $1,575 touched in early May. The 1.6 percent rise in the dollar against a basket of currencies this month has contributed to gold's 0.6 percent fall in June, as a stronger dollar makes gold less attractive to non-U.S. buyers. It also helps lift bond yields and stock prices, undermining the appeal of gold which bears no yield or dividend. "We are more or less solely driven by the U.S. currency, which is in turn driven by the debt criss and economic indciators in general. We've seen many times in the past that if commodity prices are under pressure, the gold price comes under some pressure as well," said Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann. "Gold cannot escape completely from a general downturn in commodity markets, but we don't expect gold to come down much further and it should find some support around current price levels." The euro fell to a three-week low on Thursday and dropped below its 100-day moving average for the first time since February, with traders citing ECB policy maker Nout Wellink saying in a Dutch newspaper report that the European bailout fund should be doubled. Gold priced in euros was last flat on the day, trading at 1,079.70 euros an ounce, but remains less than 10 euros off the record high of 1,088.11 euros hit in late May. "Investors are skeptical that a new government will be able to convince the disillusioned masses to accept more austerity measures. Instead, much needed budget cuts could be delayed," said Ong Yi Ling, investment analyst at Phillip Futures. "Until Greece produces a plan for future debt sustainability, aid could be withheld. As the likelihood of a technical default increases, a flight to safety could cause gold and the dollar to rise in tandem." The physical market was subdued after some trading was reported overnight. Premiums for gold bars were steady at 60 to 80 cents an ounce to the spot London prices in Singapore. Holdings of gold in the major exchange-traded funds were stable. Global holdings of gold in ETFs have fallen by nearly 130,000 ounces so far this month. Silver was last down by more than 1.2 percent on the day at $35.36 an ounce, having fallen by nearly a third since touching a record $49.51 in April. "Interest in silver is likely to be muted over the summer months, particularly as the metal lacks support on the economic front," BNP Paribas said in a report. "While silver may outperform gold towards the end of the year, we do not expect the gold/silver ratio to decline back to the low 30s." The ratio, showing how many ounces of silver can buy one ounce of gold, was at about 42 after falling to around 31 in late April, its weakest since the early 1980s. Platinum was last down 0.4 percent on the day at $1,762.50 an ounce, having fallen for five days in a row, its longest stretch of losses since June last year. Palladium was last down 1.3 percent at $761.25. (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)

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