By Lewa Pardomuan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold fell further on Monday after posting its worst closing since June last week but bargain hunters could cushion the fall, while escalating worries about Europe's ability to resolve its debt crisis sent bullion priced in euro to a record high. Fears about a Greek default rose after senior politicians in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition started talking openly about it following the surprise departure of German's top official at the European Central Bank last week. Spot gold eased $4.02 to $1,853.14 an ounce by 0459 GMT, well below a lifetime high around $1,920 struck last week, with speculators still cashing in on the metal to cover losses in equities. "We still lean negative in our bias and expect a fall toward $1,750 over the next week or so," said Tom Pawlicki, precious metals and energy analyst at MF Global. "A decline may be anything but a straight line fall, as volatility is likely to remain." U.S. gold futures were flat at $1,859 an ounce. But gold priced in euro struck a record high at 1,371.30 euros as the single currency fell against the U.S. dollar on Europe's debt crisis -- a factor which had initially lifted cash gold to a record. "Strength in the dollar is weighing on gold. I think perhaps some investors are also concerned about the extreme volatility in gold," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "So (there is) some short-term profit taking before the longer-term uptrend may continue. If gold comes down further to about $1,800 level, I think we could see some buyers coming back to the market." Continued...

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