PRECIOUS-Gold edges down, falling ETFs sap interest

SINGAPORE, April 25 (Reuters) - Gold inched lower on Thursday, hovering below a 1-week high hit earlier this week, as firm equities sapped interest in the precious metal, which has seen steady outflows on exchange-traded funds. Gold shrugged off news the Russian Federation raised its gold reserve for a fifth straight month in March and Turkey added to its holdings for a fourth month. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold fell $2.14 an ounce to $1,428.66 by 0045 GMT. Gold sank a combined $225 on April 12 and 15 in a sell-off that surprised ardent gold investors and bulls. * U.S. gold was at $1,428.10 an ounce, up $4.40. * SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.38 percent to 1092.98 tonnes on Wednesday from 1097.19 tonnes on Tuesday. The current holdings are at multi-year lows. * Billionaire investor John Paulson told investors on Wednesday he is staying the course on gold even though there may be more short-term volatility in the price of the metal. * Barrick Gold Corp, making a painful adjustment to a sustained slump in bullion prices, reported progress in controlling costs on Wednesday and said it planned further cuts in capital spending, sending its shares higher. * For the top stories on metals and other news, click , or MARKET NEWS * Asian shares edged higher on Thursday, supported by views that the recent run of weak global economic data will encourage major central banks to keep or deepen their monetary stimulus to bolster growth. * U.S. crude futures extended gains for a sixth day on Thursday after rising 2.5 percent a day earlier, supported by a big drop in U.S. gasoline inventories and speculation that a glut of crude at the Cushing, Oklahoma hub could soon ease. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0830 UK Q1 GDP 1230 U.S. Weekly jobless claims 1500 U.S. Kansas City Fed manufacturing PRICES Precious metals prices 0045 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1428.66 -2.14 -0.15 -14.68 Spot Silver 23.11 0.02 +0.09 -23.68 Spot Platinum 1425.24 -0.76 -0.05 -7.15 Spot Palladium 666.47 0.97 +0.15 -3.69 COMEX GOLD JUN3 1428.10 4.40 +0.31 -14.78 2433 COMEX SILVER MAY3 23.07 0.23 +1.02 -23.70 1292 Euro/Dollar 1.3021 Dollar/Yen 99.50 (Reporting by Lewa Pardomuan; Editing by Richard Pullin)