* ETF holdings plunge to 4-year lows
* U.S. weekly jobless claims hit lowest since January 2008 (Updates with changes to prices after U.S. jobless claims)
By Clara Denina
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Thursday, extending early slight losses, after data showed the number of U.S. weekly jobless claims dropped to the lowest level in more than five years.
Spot gold was down 0.5 percent to $1,464.60 by 1306 GMT. It had gained 1.4 percent in the previous session, its biggest one-day rise in two weeks.
U.S. gold for June delivery fell 0.9 percent to $1,460.80 an ounce.
Initial U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, the lowest since January 2008.
"Jobless claims were better than expected, indicative of a recovering U.S. economy, and the dollar is a little bit stronger ... in that kind of environment you would expect gold to come under pressure," Deutsche Bank analyst Daniel Brebner said.
The dollar edged up versus the euro and trimmed losses against the yen after the U.S. jobs data, further easing fears of an abrupt slowdown in the economy and tarnishing gold's appeal as a safe haven.
Gold had started the session with light selling as physical demand started to slow in some parts of Asia, while outflows from exchange-traded funds showed no signs of abating on sagging investor confidence.
"Physical demand is still strong, although possibly not as much as it was in the past weeks, and we are not seeing a lot of scrap coming back into the market, which is definitely supporting the price to some extent," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet said.
"But of course we have to look at the ETF liquidation, which is a drag, and on balance I'd say prices will probably remain rangebound between $1,450 and $1,480 in the short term."
Prices have rebounded by more than $100 from the April 16 trough at $1,321.35, but further downside risks remain as investors keep generally shifting their money into soaring equities, analysts said.
"Given the performance of high-yielding equities across the globe of late, reduction of tail risk in Europe, rising labour market in the U.S. and anaemic inflation rates, people are preferring to put their money back into the stock markets, whilst reducing their exposure to commodities," MKS Capital said in a note.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell 0.60 percent to 1,051.47 tonnes on Wednesday from 1,057.79 tonnes on Tuesday, the lowest level since March 2009.
The physical market was mixed in Asia, with dealers in Singapore noting a slowdown in buying interest and those in Hong Kong reporting a shortage in the supply of gold bars, which kept premiums at multi-month highs.
In other precious metals, silver fell 0.2 percent to $23.82 an ounce.
Reflecting continued retail investment buying of silver, the U.S. Mint will limit dealers' purchases of its "America the Beautiful" five-ounce silver bullion coins when they go on sale next week.
Platinum rose 0.1 percent to $1,501.99 an ounce, and palladium was also up 0.1 percent at $692.47. (Additional reporting by Lewa Pardomuan in Singapore; editing by James Jukwey and Jane Baird)
