* Gold seeks direction from the dlr, awaits U.S. data * SPDR holdings stay at record high * Platinum at six-month high, lifts palladium (Recasts, updates prices and comments, pvs TOKYO) By Humeyra Pamuk LONDON, March 26 (Reuters) - Gold traded rangebound on Thursday, as the dollar steadied against a basket of major currencies but was supported by robust investment appetite ahead of a key U.S. growth data. Platinum hit its highest in six-months and lifted palladium more than 3.5 percent as the dollar's weakness over the past couple of days has boosted industrial buying in platinum, analysts said. Spot gold was at $935.55 per ounce at 1039 GMT, up slightly from $933.15 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. Bullion is 7 percent off the 11-month high above $1,000 set in February, and way below an all-time peak of $1,030.80 hit in March 2008. "It really depends on what's going on in the currencies," said Wolfgang Wrzesniok-Rossbach, head of sales at Heraeus. "Plus the news on the broad economy and the financial system is what is driving the market at the moment." . Investors will be watching closely the final calculation of U.S. fourth quarter growth data, due at 1230 GMT, to assess how deep the recession is in the world's largest economy. Gold got a boost on Wednesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner suggested he was open to expanding the use of an IMF currency basket, stoking doubts over the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Geithner later said the dollar would keep its status as the top reserve currency for a long time and the dollar steadied on Thursday against major currencies after wild swings. By 1031 GMT, the dollar was 0.13 percent firmer against a basket of currencies .DXY. Gold is often viewed as an alternative to holding the dollar, rising when the greenback falls. A weaker dollar also makes gold less expensive for holders of other currencies. Analysts were also betting the longer term effects of a U.S. plan of quantitative easing would be negative for the dollar, which in turn would support bullion. INVESTMENT FLOWS SLOW? The stock rally has dampened demand for gold over the past couple of sessions, as investors saw risk appetite starting to kick in again. European shares slipping on Thursday was another factor which offered support. "People are expecting higher equity prices and less risk environment and some selling on the gold," Wrzesniok-Rossbach said. "That probably is not going to change for the time being." Investment appetite have boosted gold since the start of the year, with holdings in the world's largest exchange traded fund hitting fresh record highs consecutively. But, analysts said the pace of the rise was begining to run out of steam. "I don't think we've seen the same level of investment into ETFs in the way we have seen earlier this year," said Tom Kendall, precious metals strategist at Mitsubishi. "Gold really hasn't got that much pressure to move rapidly on the upside," he said. The SPDR Gold Trust GLD, said its holdings remained at 1,124.99 tonnes on March 25, unchanged from the record hit the previous day. [GOL/SPDR] Spot platinum touched $1,143.00 an ounce, its highest since September 26 and was last at $1,1141 an ounce versus $1,120 an ounce late in New York on Wednesday. "The euro being stronger against the dollar has encouraged some industrial buying," said Commzerbank trader Rory McVeigh, "Not much but enough in a very thin market to lift it." Spot silver edged up to $13.55 an ounce from Wednesday's $13.45 an ounce while palladium rallied xx percent to $215.50 an ounce from $208.50 an ounce. For details on the gold holdings of the ETF listed in New York and co-listed on other exchanges, click on: here For a graphic, click on: here (Additional reporting by Chikako Mogi in Tokyo, Editing by William Hardy ((humeyra.pamuk@reuters.com; Reuters Messaging: humeyra.pamuk.reuters.com@reuters.net; +44 20 7542 9736))

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