SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Spot gold inched up on Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session as uncertainty over Italy's election results stoked fears of a resurgent euro zone debt crisis, boosting bullion's appeal as a safe-haven investment. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had edged up 0.1 percent to $1,595.41 an ounce by 0034 GMT, extending gains into the fourth straight session. * U.S. gold was up half a percent at $1,595.10. * Election projections show that no party is likely to win a majority in the upper house of Italy's Senate, fuelling worries about revived political uncertainty in the euro zone's third-largest economy, which could reignite the debt crisis. * Investors will closely watch U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, to seek clues on the Fed's attitude on its monetary policy. * Likely government budget cuts and the prospect for messy political fights over fiscal policy will weigh on the U.S. economy this year and hold growth to a tepid 2.4 percent, according to a survey of forecasters published on Monday. * Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 7.83 tonnes, or 0.61 percent, to 1,272.848 tonnes on Feb 25, the lowest since August 2012. * For the top stories on metals and other news, click , or MARKET NEWS * U.S. stocks on Monday suffered their biggest drop since November after the strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country's economic reforms. * The euro crouched near a six-week low against the dollar while the yen kept some distance from multi-month lows on Tuesday. DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1245 U.S. ICSC weekly chain store sales 1400 U.S. CaseShiller housing index 1400 U.S. FHFA home price index 1500 U.S. New home sales 1500 U.S. Consumer confidence 1500 U.S. Richmond Fed composite index 1500 U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke delivers semi-annual testimony to U.S. Senate Banking Committee PRICES Precious metals prices 0034 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1595.41 1.55 +0.10 -4.73 Spot Silver 29.05 0.04 +0.14 -4.06 Spot Platinum 1610.00 5.50 +0.34 4.89 Spot Palladium 738.00 4.78 +0.65 6.65 COMEX GOLD APR3 1595.10 8.50 +0.54 -4.82 3627 COMEX SILVER MAR3 29.02 0.03 +0.10 -4.02 787 Euro/Dollar 1.3081 Dollar/Yen 92.62 COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Reporting by Rujun Shen; Editing by Joseph Radford)
America has no tolerance for wealthy people griping about their financial woes. But they have concerns too.