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SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) Gold extended New York's gains on Wednesday after the U.S. dollar fell against other currencies, lifting the metal's safe-haven appeal.

-- Spot gold rose to $698.50/699.50 an ounce from $689.90/690.90 late in New York on Tuesday, when it had risen more than $7 an ounce.

-- Immediate resistance was pegged at $700. Gold hit a 26-year high of $730 last Friday.

-- The dollar hovered within sight of an eight-month low against the yen after weak housing and inflation figures suggested the two-year run of rising U.S. interest rates is nearly over.

-- The dollar was little changed at 109.75 yen . It fell 0.7 percent on Tuesday, moving back towards an eight-month low of 109.31 yen struck at the end of last week.

-- The euro was little changed at $1.2850 after climbing rising 0.5 percent in the previous session.

-- Benchmark gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, currently April 2007, fell four yen per gram to 2,512 yen because of a Japanese currency.

-- Platinum rose to $1,300/1,307 an ounce from $1,295/1,303 late in New York.

-- Sister metal palladium also rose to $375/383 an ounce from $369/374.

-- Silver edged up to $13.70/13.80 an ounce from $13.59/13.69.

Precious Metals Prices by 0049 GMT* Gold 698.75 10.95 +1.59 Platinum 1300.00 5.00 +0.39 Palladium 375.00 6.00 +1.63 Silver 13.70 0.20 +1.48 Change so far in 2006 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Gold 698.75 517.20 +35.10 Platinum 1300.00 968.00 +34.30 Palladium 375.00 254.00 +47.64 Silver 13.70 8.81 +55.51 * The closing prices used to calculate the net change may differ from New York's last quoted prices.

REUTERS CS RS0951