Gold dipped on Wednesday after it had risen to a five-week high on safe-haven buying in the aftermath of a series of bombs that killed more than 170 people in India's financial hub of Mumbai.

Other precious metals were choppy, with platinum also rising to a five-week high before retreating. Dealers said the market would focus on U.S. data on international trade and consumer sentiment, due on Wednesday and Friday respectively.

Gold climbed to $643 an ounce on Tuesday, its highest since June 5, on investment buying after a series of bombs hit at least seven packed commuter trains during the rush hour in Mumbai.

The metal rose as high as $642.75 an ounce on Wednesday but met stiff resistance there, which dealers said showed investors remained keen to cash in at higher levels since the price had rebounded from a three-month low of $543 in mid-June.

Spot gold was quoted at $641.25/642.00 an ounce by 0411 GMT, down slightly from $642.10/644.10 an ounce late in New York, where it had risen nearly 3 percent.

"We haven't seen much follow-through buying at the top level," said Louis Lok, a dealing officer at the Bank of China in Hong Kong who saw gold in a range $620 to $650 in the next few days.

Investors often buy gold in times of instability as the metal is viewed as a "safe haven".

"Even though the blasts make people a little bit nervous, I am still looking at a trading range of $600 to $650. The bombing is more of a domestic problem in India ... not a cross-border problem," said a dealer in Singapore.

"People were caught off guard because they thought gold was going to be in a range environment. Then the blasts came out, so people covered their shorts. We may exceed yesterday's high, but I think gold will come down again," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the Mumbai blasts but suspicion was likely to centre on Muslim militants fighting New Delhi's rule in disputed Kashmir, who have been blamed for several bomb attacks in India in the past.

In the currency market, the euro inched down to $1.2762 , but was within sight of a one-month high of $1.2865 touched last week. The dollar was little changed at 114.33 yen .

In Japan, the benchmark June 2007 gold contract <0#JAU:> on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange rose to its highest in six weeks at 2,395 yen ($20.97) per gram, reflecting gains in New York's COMEX market.

Platinum hit a high of 1,251 an ounce before retreating to $1,245/1,250 an ounce, still up from $1,242/1,247 late in New York.

Sister metal palladium rose to $325/330 an ounce from $324/330.

Silver inched down to $11.52/11.59 an ounce from $11.53/11.63 late in New York.

Precious Metals Prices by 0419 GMT*

Metal Last Net change Pct Move Gold 640.60 0.20 +0.03

Platinum 1245.00 3.00 +0.24

Palladium 325.00 1.00 +0.31

Silver 11.52 0.04 +0.35

Change so far in 2006

Metal Latest bid End prev year Pct Move

Gold 640.60 517.20 +23.86

Platinum 1245.00 968.00 +28.62

Palladium 325.00 254.00 +27.95

Silver 11.52 8.81 +30.76