SINGAPORE, Sep 3 (Reuters) Gold dipped on Monday but held within sight of a three-week high hit las

SINGAPORE, Sep 3 (Reuters) Gold dipped on Monday but held within sight of a three-week high hit last week as investors awaited the release of U.S. economic data that may offer clues to the direction of precious metals.

-- Spot gold eased to $672.30/672.90 an ounce from $673.00/673.60 late in New York on Friday, when it rallied to its highest in three weeks at $674.30 on firmer equities and a strike ata gold mine, and as speeches by U.S. President George W. Bush and the Federal Reserve calmed financial markets.

-- The benchmark August 2008 gold futures on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose 9 yen per gram to 2,528 yen.

-- Data later this week include U.S. manufacturing activity in August on Tuesday, the Federal Reserve's beige book summary of the economy's performance on Wednesday and the monthly jobs report on Friday.

-- Trading was expected to be subdued with U.S. markets closed for the Labour Day holiday. The dollar was little changed from late U.S. trade near 115.80 yen . The euro also barely budged near $1.3625 .

-- President George W. Bush tried to calm financial market turmoil by announcing proposals intended to prevent homeowners from defaulting on risky mortgages. [ID:nN31346897] -- Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the U.S. central bank will take the necessary steps to shelter the economy from turmoil in the financial markets but will not bail out investors who made mistakes.

-- Platinum rose to $1,269/1,274 an ounce from $1,262.50/1,269.50 late in New York on Friday, when it had risen to its highest since mid-August at $1,274 an ounce.

-- Palladium was steady at $329/334 an ounce.

-- Silver edged up to $12.08/12.11 an ounce from $12.02/12.06 an ounce. It hit an intraday high of $12.10 an ounce, matching Friday's two-week high.

Precious metals prices at 0056 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 672.15 -1.05 -0.16 5.73 Spot Silver 12.08 0.03 +0.25 -5.99 Spot Platinum 1269.00 3.00 +0.24 12.10 Spot Palladium 329.00 0.00 +0.00 -0.90 TOCOM Gold 2526.00 7.00 +0.28 3.31 12375 TOCOM Platinum 4680.00 -8.00 -0.17 10.01 7955 TOCOM Silver 451.70 3.90 +0.87 -8.43 705 TOCOM Palladium 1255.00 2.00 +0.16 0.00 87 Euro/Dollar 1.3629 Dollar/Yen 115.68 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce.

Reuters BJR VP0655