SINGAPORE, Feb 8 Gold was steady on Thursday after a volatile trade in New York but deale

SINGAPORE, Feb 8 (Reuters) Gold was steady on Thursday after a volatile trade in New York but dealers said the metal was still at the mercy of currency and energy markets.

-- Spot gold was at $651.80/652.50 an ounce by 0047 GMT, hardly changed from $651.70/652.40 an ounce late in the US market on Wednesday, when it dropped more than $1 after crude oil reversed gains .

-- Benchmark gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, currently December 2007, fell 3 yen per gram to 2,550 yen.

-- The dollar was little changed at 120.60 yen -- recovering from a slide earlier in the week to 119.96 yen, its lowest since early January. The euro hardly moved at $1.3020 .

-- The yen kept its distance from a one-month high against the dollar on doubts the Group of Seven nations will issue a statement on weakness in the Japanese currency when they meet later in the week.

-- Platinum fell to $1,189/1,194 an ounce from $1,196/1,200 late in New York. The metal jumped to a 10-week high of $1,200 on Wednesday speculative buying as well as purchases by Chinese jewellers ahead of the Lunar New Year later this month.

-- Palladium fell to $340/345 from $342/347 an ounce.

-- Silver inched up to $13.62/13.67 an ounce from $13.61/13.66 late in New York.

REUTERS SRS BST0716