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TOKYO, July 27 (Reuters) Gold advanced to its highest level in almost one week on Thursday, supported by firmer Tokyo futures prices following a strong recovery in New York the previous day which was backed by a weaker dollar.

Cash gold hit a session high of $627.75 an ounce -- the highest since July 21. It has climbed more than 4 percent from this week's low of $601.60 reached on Monday.

''The market is in a slight uptrend after confirming a support near $600 this week, but the market is pretty range-bound as more players are on summer holidays,'' said Shuji Sugata, assistant manager at Mitsubishi Corp Futures and Securities Ltd.

At 0300 GMT, spot gold was trading at $626.75/628.25 from $621.80/622.55 late in New York on Wednesday.

The technical trend improved as spot bullion advanced beyond the seven-day moving average of about $624, but gold is expected to meet some resistance at the 14-day MA of around $634.

Traders said gold is expected to be firmly protected at the 200-day MA of $569.

On Wednesday in New York, options-related trades propped up gold futures as COMEX August options expired which also led to a rise in the spot price.

Lingering Middle East security tensions induced safe-haven buying in gold.

Israel launched a heavy air and artillery bombardment of south Lebanon on Thursday after nine Israeli soldiers were killed in the Jewish state's worst 24 hours for casualties in a 16-day-old conflict against Hizbollah.

Firm oil prices also supported gold prices as strong energy prices usually increase interest in the yellow metal as a hedge against inflation.

The dollar was on the defensive against the euro and the yen on Thursday after falling sharply the previous session on a Federal Reserve survey that suggested the U.S. economy may be slowing and interest rates could soon peak.

Gold often moves in the opposite direction to the dollar as some investors use it as an alternative to the U.S. currency.

''The basic uptrend in gold really hasn't changed despite seeing big downward corrections in past weeks,'' said a senior trader at a Japanese trading house.

''I'm sure gold will be well-supported as there are plenty of players ready to buy around $600.'' Spot gold gained support as benchmark Tokyo Commodity Exchange gold futures rose by nearly 1 percent.

The benchmark June TOCOM gold contract closed the morning session at 2,370 yen a gram, up 22 yen or 0.94 percent from Wednesday's close of 2,348 yen.

Other metals strengthened as they tracked bullish gold.

Platinum rose to $1,229/1,234 an ounce from $1,219/1,224 in late New York.

Sister metal palladium inched up to $313/318 an ounce compared with $312/316 in New York.

Silver strengthened to $11.10/11.17 an ounce from $11.00/11.10 in New York.

REUTERS CS DS1227