LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) Gold slipped on Monday as the dollar firmed, but was seen supported by saf

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) Gold slipped on Monday as the dollar firmed, but was seen supported by safe-haven demand amid uncertainty in global financial markets, analysts said.

Spot gold was at $669.55/670.15 an ounce at 1434 GMT, down from $672.30/672.90 in New York late on Friday, when it hit a low of $658.10 before rebounding as the U.S. Federal Reserve pumped money into the banking system.

''More volatility across the precious metals complex appears likely as global financial markets have yet to calm and we expect gold will continue to perform as it has from the start -- simultaneously functioning as a source of liquidity and as a safe-haven asset,'' Deutsche Bank said in a market report.

''With many funds tied up across a variety of asset classes, gold will likely again suffer from sell-offs if funds need to cover losses elsewhere.'' The euro fell versus the dollar as the European Central Bank conducted a third liquidity-providing operation in euro zone money markets. The bank injected 47.67 billion euros in a one-day tender on Monday to replace Friday's special three-day tender for 61.05 billion euros.

The central bank operations are aimed at calming financial markets, rocked by news of problems in banks and funds exposed to risky investments in U.S. mortgage and asset-backed markets.

Markets are worried that the cheap credit which helped fuel global growth might dry up.

''People are still looking to what's happening on the credit market,'' said Michael Widmer, director of metals research at Calyon Corporate and Investment Bank.

''Looking through the last few weeks, whenever volatility on the market was high, gold generally sold off. So less volatility as such should be positive for the gold price.'' Gold traditionally has been used by investors as protection against economic and political uncertainty. But in recent months it has behaved much like other financial assets because of the growing role of commodities in diversified portfolios.

Some analysts said the market was expected to trade in a range in the holiday period, when liquidity is generally low.

''The market is struggling to find a footing. We are going to see gold drift and probably trade in a tight range. The market needs more than just a weaker dollar to go higher,'' said Peter Hillyard, head of metals sales at ANZ Investment Bank.

Michael Jansen, analyst at J.P. Morgan, said the bulk of new investment in the sector was coming into exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but even the momentum-driven investors in futures were showing some resilience.

Net long, or bullish, positions on the U.S. futures market were at around 12.8 million ounces last week, largely in line with the long term average.

StreetTRACKS Gold Shares, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund (ETF) by far, held 509.29 tonnes of gold, a shade lower that this month's record high of 509.60 tonnes.

In other metals, platinum was up $2 at $1,274/1,278 an ounce, but remained under pressure as South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers reached a wage settlement with the world's biggest platinum miner Anglo Platinum last week.

Silver was at $12.77/12.81 an ounce, down 5 cents from its close in Friday, when the metal tumbled to a five-week low of $12.57. Palladium was up $2 at $353/357 an ounce.

REUTERS PBB RN2047