By Arpan Mukherjee Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WELLINGTON (Dow Jones)--Gold traded lower in Asian hours Tuesday, as a lack of interest trapped prices in a tight band, with a stronger U.S. dollar weighing on sentiment. Traders said they expected more downside due to an uncertain global economic growth outlook amid deepening worries about euro-zone debt. Analysts said equity markets are shrugging off a relatively strong U.S. retail sales report in light of debt woes in Europe. At 0444 GMT, spot gold was at $1,648.50 a troy ounce, down $4.40 from its previous close. The yellow metal traded no higher than $1,652.80/oz and no lower than $1,647.70/oz during the session. A stronger dollar also discouraged investors as dollar-denominated commodities appeared costlier to holders of other currencies with the greenback rebounding. The euro was at $1.3118 with $1.3142 late Monday in New York. The euro was around $1.33 earlier this month, before the specter of onerous debt in Spain re-emerged from Europe, weakening the single currency and making dollar-denominated commodities more costly to euro holders. A Hong Kong-based trader said near-term gold prices are vulnerable to downside risks due to the likelihood of further dollar strength. "There hasn't been any fund buying interest for the past few days," he said, adding that investors remain indifferent to gold, as they aren't seeing it as a safe-haven asset given that it failed to make a sustained rise this year. Chintan Karnani, the Delhi-based director of Insignia Consultants, said gold demand in India was lackluster ahead Akshaya Tritiya, one of the biggest gold-buying occasions in the country--even after shops reopened earlier this month following a 20-day shutdown in protest against an import tax hike on gold and silver. Besides, "buyers are moving more toward diamond-studded jewelry, which has lower gold content," he said. Spot silver was at $31.41/oz, down 12 cents. Karnani said silver prices will likely fall before rising again, tipping a break of $30/oz as opening the door to a move toward $24/oz. The last time silver was lower than $24/oz was in early November 2010 on its way up from a trough around $8.50/oz two years earlier. Platinum was at $1,561.50/oz, down $9.50, while palladium was at $648.40/oz, down 50 cents. While a fall in net long positions in platinum at the New York Mercantile Exchange for the week ended April 10 "is a point of concern," an increase in short positions "is most alarming," Standard Bank analyst Marc Ground said in a note. In palladium, net speculative length dropped for a third week in a row on Nymex, he said, adding that exchange-traded fund buying in palladium has resumed, but this is "hardly a sign of investor confidence." -By Arpan Mukherjee, Dow Jones Newswires; 64-4-471-5990; arpan.mukherjee@dowjones.com

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