* Gold premium in Hong Kong up slightly this week-trader
* Spot gold may fall towards $1,456-technicals [ID:nL4E7GI022]
* Coming Up: U.S. weekly mortgage index; 1100 GMT (Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, May 18 (Reuters) - Gold rose on Wednesday as Asian buyers snapped up bullion after a three-day losing streak, taking the cue from a weaker dollar, with the ongoing euro zone debt crisis also supporting sentiment.
The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies while the euro climbed although worries over the euro zone debt crisis kept investors nervous about piling up euro positions after top European finance officials acknowledged that Greece may have to restructure its debt. [ID:nLDE74G0PD]
"The slightly weaker dollar and some bargain hunting are helping gold's rebound," said a Hong Kong-based dealer.
"But the market does not have a clear sense of direction and a lot of people are just waiting."
The premium on gold bars in Hong Kong increased 10 cents this week to between $1.30 and $1.80 per ounce over London spot prices as buying picked up, he said. Scrap selling was still muted, he added.
Spot gold gained 0.4 percent to $1,491.26 an ounce by
0605 GMT. U.S. gold
The technical outlook for bullion remains bearish for the short term. Spot gold is expected to continue its fall towards $1,456 an ounce, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
"Gold can face more downside pressure technically if prices break below the 50-day moving average at about $1,470," said Ong Yi Ling, an analyst at Phillip Futures.
The long-term outlook for bullion still looks bright, and expectations that Greece will restructure its debt may drive some investors to seek safe haven in gold, she said.
Spot silver rose 1 percent to $34.27 an ounce. U.S.
silver
Spot silver hit an all-time high at $49.51 in late April, buoyed by strong investment demand. But prices have fallen more than 30 percent since as successive margin hikes in COMEX silver futures which nearly doubled trading costs drove investors away.
Holdings in the iShares Silver Trust , the world's largest silver-backed exchange-traded fund, dropped 8 percent from its peak in late April to 10,487.38 tonnes by May 17.
"Given that the key driver of prices remains investment demand, they are likely to remain volatile until they find support from physical demand, which we expect to materialise around the low-$30s," Barclays Capital said in a research note.
Spot platinum climbed half a percent to $1,770.74, recovering from a low of $1,744.20 hit on Tuesday, its weakest since end of March. Spot palladium was down 0.2 percent at $718.18.
Palladium, by far the worst performing precious metal with a 10 percent year-to-day decline, is likely to stage a better run than platinum this year on booming automotive industry in emerging economies such as China and India and concerns on ebbing supply, analysts said in a Reuters poll. [ID:nLDE74C1SQ]
Precious metals prices 0605 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1491.26 6.41 +0.43 5.06 Spot Silver 34.27 0.36 +1.06 11.05 Spot Platinum 1770.74 8.74 +0.50 0.18 Spot Palladium 718.18 -1.57 -0.22 -10.17 TOCOM Gold 3900.00 -20.00 -0.51 4.59 59261 TOCOM Platinum 4676.00 2.00 +0.04 -0.43 10893 TOCOM Silver 89.40 -0.10 -0.11 10.37 2362 TOCOM Palladium 1889.00 4.00 +0.21 -9.92 201 COMEX GOLD JUN1 1491.20 11.20 +0.76 4.91 12532 COMEX SILVER JUL1 34.26 0.76 +2.28 10.71 7445 Euro/Dollar 1.4266 Dollar/Yen 81.12 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr.)