Gold rebounds, seen trading in $620 to $650 range

SINGAPORE, Aug 1 (Reuters) Gold bounced back today as the dollar remained under pressure from expectations the Federal Reserve would refrain from raising rates again next week.

-- Spot gold hit a high of 637.50 dollars an ounce but then retreated to 636.00/637.00 ddollars an ounce, still higher than 634.70/635.45 dollars late in New York yesterday.

-- The metal fell slightly in the US market due to end-of-the-month book squaring. Investors also watched other markets and international headlines for direction.

-- Dealers said gold was likely to face stiff resistance at 650 dollars, while the downside target was pegged around 620 dollars.

-- Benchmark gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange fell 7 yen per gram to 2,365 yen, tracking losses in New York's COMEX market.

-- The dollar edged down to 114.60 yen from around 114.65 yen in late US trading yesterday, when it fell as low as 114.19 yen on electronic trading platform EBS, the lowest since July 12.

-- The euro was flat at 1.2765 dollars -- Platinum eased to 1,225/1,230 dollars an ounce from 1,228/1,234 dollars late in New York.

-- Sister metal palladium rose to 311/316 dollars an once from at 310/315 dollars.

-- Silver inched down to 11.37/11.45 dollars an ounce from 11.29/11.39 dollars late in New York.

Precious Metals Prices by 0030 GMT* Metal Last Net change Pct Move Gold 636.00 1.80 +0.28 Platinum 1225.00 -3.00 -0.24 Palladium 311.00 1.00 +0.32 Silver 11.37 0.08 +0.71 Change so far in 2006 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Gold 636.00 517.20 +22.97 Platinum 1225.00 968.00 +26.55 Palladium 311.00 254.00 +22.44 Silver 11.37 8.81 +29.06 * The closing prices used to calculate the net change may differ from New York's last quoted prices.

REUTERS MQA PM1009