PRECIOUS-Gold falls ahead of central banks' policy meetings

* Volume light, investors cautious after US home prices rise * Gold ETF holdings fall to lowest since Sept 2009 * Asian physical gold demand stays strong * Coming up: U.S. Fed policy statement Wednesday (New throughout, adds market details, second byline, dateline) By Frank Tang and Clara Denina NEW YORK/LONDON, April 30 (Reuters) - Gold edged lower on Tuesday in volume as investors strong U.S. home prices and consumer confidence data kept investors cautious before policy meetings at the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank later this week. Bullion investors took profits after data showed U.S. home prices rose in February at their fastest rate in almost seven years, and another report showed U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in April. Despite those encouraging reports, data showing contraction in U.S. Midwest business activity raised hopes that the Fed will keep its pace of bond buying at $85 billon a month throughout this year, analysts said. Investors also positioned for an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank, but traders said that the outcome for both the ECB and the Fed was uncertain. "Unless we get something dramatic happening, such as real further easing by the ECB this week, I think we will be in a consolidation mode with very choppy trade," said Michael Zarembski, senior commodities analyst at optionsXpress, a unit of Charles Schwab. Gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,473.54 by 2:58 p.m. (1858 GMT) U.S. Comex gold futures for June delivery settled up $4.70 at $1,472.10 an ounce, with trading volume about 35 percent below its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed. Bullion has recovered more than half the $225-per-ounce loss it incurred between April 12 and 16, driven by strong physical demand around the world especially in top bullion consumers China and India. Gold prices sank to $1,321.35 on April 16, their lowest in more than two years, after a drop below $1,500 led to a further sell-off that stunned investors and prompted them to keep slashing holdings of exchange-traded funds. Gold investors also look forward to Friday's all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls data, which will signal the longer-term prospect of the Fed's monetary stimulus. Silver fell 1.3 percent to $24.19 an ounce. SPDR POISED FOR RECORD DECLINE The SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.2 percent to 1,080.64 tonnes on Monday to their lowest since September 2009. The fund's holdings were set for a record monthly decline of 11.5 percent. In the physical market, buying subsided as China, one of the world's largest gold consumers, was on holiday until Thursday for Labour Day celebrations. Supply of gold bars, coins and nuggets in Asia remained tight, however, with premiums for gold bars in Hong Kong reaching their highest level since October 2011, up to $3 an ounce to spot London prices this week. Among platinum group metals, platinum eased 0.2 percent to $1,503.50 an ounce, while palladium was also down 0.2 percent to $695.22. 2:58 PM EDT LAST/ NET PCT LOW HIGH CURRENT SETTLE CHNG CHNG VOL US Gold JUN 1472.10 4.70 0.3 1460.50 1479.50 134,591 US Silver MAY 24.144 0.022 0.1 23.985 24.510 1,884 US Plat JUL 1507.20 -0.20 0.0 1494.10 1516.40 10,053 US Pall JUN 697.80 -1.40 -0.2 695.00 703.50 2,607 Gold 1473.54 -2.25 -0.2 1461.68 1478.81 Silver 24.190 -0.320 -1.3 24.060 24.520 Platinum 1503.50 -2.50 -0.2 1496.00 1513.50 Palladium 695.22 -1.28 -0.2 697.25 700.72 TOTAL MARKET VOLUME 30-D ATM VOLATILITY CURRENT 30D AVG 250D AVG CURRENT CHG US Gold 148,617 234,365 177,436 20.23 -0.79 US Silver 39,944 75,072 54,882 31.96 1.95 US Platinum 10,168 16,062 11,918 18.98 -0.11 US Palladium 2,839 5,334 5,120 (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; Editing by Jane Baird and David Gregorio)