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SINGAPORE, Aug 16 (Reuters) Gold rebounded on Wednesday as Japanese speculators stepped into the market after the metal held above a key support level of $620 an ounce the previous day despite heavy selling.

But trading was cautious, with gold unable to sustain its early gains despite a weaker dollar. Some dealers said gold would have to breach a key resistance level of $648 to sustain an uptrend.

Spot gold hit an intraday high of $626.60 an ounce before retreating to $624.70/625.45, still up from $623.60/624.40 an ounce late in New York.

''Fundamentals look weak for gold. There's some good selling around the recent highs of $626 to $627. The market is a bit long and there's no fresh impetus to push it much higher,'' said a dealer in Hong Kong.

''We may trade within $623 to $627 today but I think we need to wait for Europe and the U.S. to enter the market to see more movements,'' he said.

Gold fell to a three-week low of $620.60 an ounce on Tuesday after crude oil prices dropped as a truce between Israel and Hizbollah largely held.

Benchmark gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange, currently June 2007, fell 14 yen per gram to 2,360 yen ($20.33), tracking losses in New York and a decline in oil prices.

The contract also fell as low as 2,350 yen, its lowest since July 26.

''Honestly, I can say the market has no real direction. The market is kept around the 100-day moving average,'' said Louis Lok, a dealer at the Bank of China in Hong Kong.

The moving average stood above $629 on Wednesday.

Silver edged up to $12.08/12.15 an ounce, from $12.01/12.11 late in New York.

''I don't see buying interest in silver in the morning. What I can say is that silver stays above $12 despite some selling pressure in gold,'' he said.

On Tuesday, silver attracted some buying interest from jewellers and the industrial sector in Asia after it fell on Monday to its lowest level since Aug. 2 to $11.70 an ounce.

Silver spiked to its highest in 25 years of $15.17 an ounce in May, and its value has risen 72 percent since the start of the year, as speculators poured money in anticipation that an exchange-traded fund (ETF), called iShares Silver Trust, would boost demand and widen the market deficit.

The dollar remained under pressure ahead of data on U.S.

consumer price inflation which should help investors decide whether the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold again next month.

The market will watch July consumer price inflation data due at 1230 GMT to get a clearer picture of the outlook for U.S. rates.

The dollar was little changed at 116.10 yen after falling half a percent a day earlier. The euro was also little changed at $1.2785 The Fed left rates on hold at 5.25 percent last week after bumping them up 17 straight times since June 2004, though it left the door open for more credit tightening if price pressures persist.

Platinum rose to $1,227/1,231 an ounce from $1,226/1,231 late in New York. Sister metal palladium also rose to $321/325 an ounce from $318/322.

Precious Metals Prices by 0445 GMT* Metal Last Net change Pct Move Gold 624.70 0.10 +0.02 Platinum 1227.00 1.00 +0.08 Palladium 321.00 3.00 +0.94 Silver 12.05 0.04 +0.33 Change so far in 2006 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move Gold 624.70 517.20 +20.78 Platinum 1227.00 968.00 +26.76 Palladium 321.00 254.00 +26.38 Silver 12.05 8.81 +36.78 * The closing prices used to calculate the net change may differ from New York's last quoted prices.

($1=116.09 yen) REUTERS SRS KP1211