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LONDON, Mar 16 (Reuters) Gold and silver were rangebound on Thursday morning, the latter hovering near a 22-year high on hopes of a launch of a new U.S. silver investment product, traders said.

Spot silver, which has risen more than 17 per cent this year, was quoted at $10.30/10.33 an ounce at 1114 GMT (1644 IST), 1 cent below its New York close and slightly down from the 22-year high of $10.37 hit on Wednesday.

Silver soared that day when speculators bought the metal on expectations the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would soon approve a proposed exchange-traded fund from Barclays Global Investors.

''Silver is all about expectation of EFT approval, there's nothing else to say about it. People will be buying on the dips,'' a trader said.

Another trader said earlier: ''If it's approved it will have a $1 to $2 upward impact, and I see no reason why it wouldn't be approved.'' ETFs are designed to reflect closely the price of an underlying market or commodity, such as a stock index or gold. They trade like listed stocks on any exchange.

Gold would remain rangebound in the near future, traders said.

''There is support at $549 then back to $535, and resistance at $558, $562 then $575, so I think it will be rangebound over the next month,'' the first dealer said.

Spot gold rose slightly to $553.80/554.70 an ounce at 1112 GMT (1642 IST) from $553.50/554.40 late in New York. It fixed in London at $553.25.

Gold had risen to a 1-week high of $556.90 on Wednesday as it tracked gains in silver, but remained below a 25-year high of $574.60 hit in early February.

Platinum fell to $1,019/1,023 an ounce from New York's $1,024/1,028 an ounce. Sister metal palladium also fell to $311/315 an ounce from $315.50/319.50.

REUTERS SD PM1659