Gold rises ahead of Fed minutes, Tokyo rebounds

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) Gold rose on a weaker dollar on Wednesday but dealers may be careful about chasing the metal too strongly ahead of the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent rate-setting meeting.

-- Spot gold rose to $657.00/658.50 an ounce from $655.95/656.45 an ounce late in New York on Tuesday.

-- Key April 2008 gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 10 yen per gram to 2,595 yen gram, tracking gains on New York's COMEX market.

-- Dealers said bargain hunters were happy to buy gold at lower levels but continued sales by central banks might cap gains.

-- Gold and gold receivables held by euro-zone central banks fell 191 million euros to 180.024 billion euros in the week ended May 25 after sales by three central banks, the European Central Bank said on Tuesday. [ID:nFAT003344] -- Markets are waiting for economic data from the United States that could influence interest rate perceptions and dollar direction. Minutes from the Fed May 9 meeting are due on Wednesday, while Thursday sees first-quarter gross domestic product growth numbers.

-- The euro was flat at $1.3452 after rising to one-week highs around $1.3520 on Tuesday.The dollar fell to 121.53 yen .

-- Platinum rose to $1,259/1,264 an ounce from $1,253/1,258 late in New York.

-- Palladium fell to $366/371 from $368/372.

-- Silver inched up to $13.17/13.20 an ounce from $13.16/13.19 an ounce.

Precious metals prices at 0050 GMT Last Net Change Pct Move Turnover (lots) TOCOM Gold 2598.00 13.00 +0.50 11884 TOCOM Platinum 4864.00 5.00 +0.10 8542 TOCOM Silver 516.00 10.20 +2.02 668 TOCOM Palladium 1458.00 10.20 +0.07 113 Spot Gold 657.45 Spot Platinum 1260.00 Spot Silver 13.15 Spot Palladium 366.00 Change so far in 2007 Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move TOCOM Gold 2598.00 2445.00 +6.26 TOCOM Platinum 4864.00 4254.00 +14.34 TOCOM Silver 516.00 493.30 +4.60 TOCOM Palladium 1458.00 1255.00 +16.18 Spot Gold 657.45 636.10 +3.36 Spot Platinum 1260.00 1132.00 +11.31 Spot Silver 13.15 12.85 +2.33 Spot Palladium 366.00 332.00 +10.24 Euro/Dollar $1.3441 Dollar/Yen 121.56 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, spot prices in $ per ounce.

REUTERS SBA BST0639