By Lewa Pardomuan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold steadied above $730 an ounce Tuesday after equities reversed losses but a rallying dollar was likely to curb gains, with traders looking next to an expected U.S. interest rate cut and economic data for direction. Platinum also bounced but held near five-year lows on worries about falling demand for autocatalysts after automakers cut output. Honda Motor Co (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan's second-largest carmaker, said on Tuesday it would cut output of its Civic compact in the U.K. from December to meet falling demand in Europe. Gold was trading at $733.40, up $3.80 from New York's notional close on Monday. It hit an intraday high of $735.20 before slipping to hit a low of $723.70 after falling equity markets forced investors to sell gold to cover margin calls. "I am a bit neutral with a slight downward bias on gold. The dollar is still on a strong rally while euro and the pound are still on a downward slide," said Adrian Koh, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "I guess this week, the focus will also be on the Fed meeting," said Koh, who expected gold to trade in a range of between $700 and $750 an ounce. Gold fell to a session low of $706.10 on Monday on heavy fund selling, not far from the 13-month low of $680.80 it touched last Friday. It has fallen as much as 27 percent since touching a two-month high of $931 on October 10 after losses in equity markets forced investors to cash in, with falling oil prices and a surging dollar adding to the selling pressure, overshadowing its potential appeal as a safe haven in the financial storm. Bullion was well below a record high of $1,030.80 hit in March. The euro eased to $1.2430, having fallen as low as $1.2329 on EBS. Dealers watched movements in the dollar amid expectations the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates at its two-day meeting starting on Tuesday. Thursday's third-quarter U.S. GDP data -- expected to show the economy contracted by 0.5 percent -- could also guide precious metals as fears of a global recession escalate. The Nikkei .N225 rose 3 percent as investors picked up beaten-down shares such as Honda Motor (7267.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after the benchmark briefly broke below 7,000 for the first time in 26 years. .T "We saw some short covering after the market ended below $745 during New York trading but sell-back from the Japanese later emerged," said a dealer in Hong Kong. "I guess trading range will still be the same at $710 to $750. Platinum did move up a bit but it lacked strength to sustain the gains," he said. Platinum was trading at $780.00 ounce, up $7.50 from New York's notional close on Monday, when it fell as low as $732.50 an ounce. Platinum has lost almost a quarter of its value since spiking to a lifetime high of $2,290 in March. The automotive sector, which accounts for around half of all platinum demand, has been hit hard by the prospect of recession. Weaker oil prices also put pressure on platinum. U.S. crude futures fell for a third day to below $63 a barrel as global recession concerns continued to dent demand. New York gold futures fell $6.6 an ounce to $736.3. Precious metals prices at 1:01 a.m. EDT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Turnover Spot Gold 733.40 3.80 +0.52 -11.93 Spot Silver 9.04 0.03 +0.33 -38.79 Spot Platinum 780.00 7.50 +0.97 -48.68 Spot Palladium 167.50 0.00 +0.00 -54.48 TOCOM Gold 2198.00 88.00 +4.17 -28.17 43776 TOCOM Platinum 2374.00 71.00 +3.08 -55.53 10098 TOCOM Silver 270.10 10.60 +4.08 -50.07 608 TOCOM Palladium 536.00 28.00 +5.51 -60.33 252 Euro/Dollar 1.2464 Dollar/Yen 93.74 TOCOM prices in yen per gram, except TOCOM silver which is priced in yen per 10 grams. Spot prices in $ per ounce. (Editing by Ben Tan)

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