By Arpan Mukherjee Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--Gold moved lower in the Asian trading Thursday in line with regional stock markets, with a strong dollar weighing on prices as concerns deepened over a Greek referendum and news that Greek voters will be asked if they want to stay in the euro-zone or leave it. With European leaders upset over Greek's referendum plan, International Monetary Fund's Christine Lagarde said the fund will disburse the next tranche of a proposed loan only after Athens holds the referendum, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 4. "There is no clear trend in the market. Gold seems to be moving in line with stock markets, while a stronger dollar is also adding to downside pressure," a Hong Kong-based director of a trading house said. At 0504 GMT, spot gold was at $1,730.60 a troy ounce, down $6.80 from its previous close. "It's (gold) a chameleon...sometimes it's a metal, sometimes it's a currency, sometimes it's a hedge against risk," another Hong Kong-based trader said, tipping support for the metal at $1,700/oz. The dollar strengthened against the euro which is now trading around $1.3695, compared with $1.3748 late Wednesday in New York. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated commodities expensive for holders of other currencies. Market participants said trading volumes remained thin amid uncertainty in the euro-zone and ahead of a key European Central Bank meeting on interest rates. The first ECB meeting under the new president Mario Draghi is scheduled later in the day. Insignia Consultants director Chintan Karnani, who expects intra-day volatility to remain high, said physical bullion traders are staying away from the market because of the high volatility in prices. In the case of silver, the demand side has received a great deal of attention, with physical demand showing signs of life at the $30/oz-mark, while flows into exchange-traded funds have been choppy, Barclays Capital analyst Suki Copper said. Spot silver was at $33.70/oz, down 57 cents from its previous close. On the supply side, record mine output since 2004 has kept the market in a surplus even when industrial demand has grown, Cooper said. Spot platinum was down $12 at $1,589/oz, and palladium was down $9 at $641/oz. Standard Bank analyst Marc Ground said although platinum group of metals benefited from renewed safe-haven demand from an industrial consumption perspective, data flow so far has been hardly supportive. "While U.S. vehicle sales were largely as expected (13.2 million in October), growth in the U.S. manufacturing activity slowed during October," he noted. Platinum and palladium are widely used in catalytic converters. -By Arpan Mukherjee, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; arpan.mukherjee@dowjones.com

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