* Spot gold up 1.5 pct after rising as much as 2.4 pct
* Gold in sterling and euro also off session highs
* Marginal lead for Remain in tight race - Reuters calculation (Adds comment, updates prices)
By Manolo Serapio Jr
MANILA, June 24 (Reuters) - Gold rose more than 1 percent on Friday, but was off session highs in volatile trade after early official results from a British referendum showed a tight race between campaigns to remain or leave the European Union.
The safe-haven precious metal rose as much as 2.4 percent at one point after early returns showed the leave campaign ahead, but curbed gains to trade less than 1 percent higher as the remain camp pulled ahead.
With results in from 75 of 382 voting districts plus partial BBC Northern Irish figures, those in favour of ending Britain's 43-year EU membership were on 48.7 percent of the vote, while those wanting to stay were on 51.3 percent, based on Reuters calculation. gold XAU= was up 1.2 percent at $1,270.20 an ounce by 0135 GMT GMT, after rising as high as $1,285.11 earlier.
U.S. gold for August delivery GCcv1 rose 0.7 percent to $1,271.70.
"Investors are not going to buy into gold unless they are more certain of an exit," said Daniel Hynes, commodity strategist at ANZ.
"Smart money is still being on the sidelines till there is any clear direction."
Gold had benefitted from fears of the 'Brexit' vote winning the referendum ahead of Thursday's polls, with some concerned it could tip Europe back into a recession, putting more pressure on the global economy.
If Britain becomes the first state to leave the European Union, it would be the biggest blow to the 28-nation bloc since its foundation.
The EU would be stripped of its leading free-market advocate and one of its two main military powers, and could face calls for similar votes by anti-EU politicians in other countries.
"We're finding safe-haven assets being bid up and in this case because it's much nearer to the event the demand for gold could be rather high," said Vishnu Varathan, a senior economist at Mizuho Bank.
"But the one thing that we can be sure of is volatility."
Gold in terms of sterling XAUGBP=R and in euro XAUEUR=R also rose, but was off session highs.
Spot silver XAG= and platinum XPT= advanced slightly, while palladium XPD= dropped more than 2 percent.