* Freeport Indonesia strike, S.Africa strike threat support
* Short-term gold technicals turn positive
* Coming up: U.S. ISM N-Mfg PMI, June; 1400GMT (Updates prices)
By Rujun Shen
SINGAPORE, July 6 (Reuters) - Spot gold rose to a 1-1/2-week high on Wednesday, supported by a weaker dollar and renewed worries about the euro zone's debt problem after Moody's slashed Portugal's credit rating to junk.
Moody's also warned that Portugal may need a second round of rescue funds, cutting into risk appetite in financial markets and pushing gold to a 1-1/2-week high of $1,516.49 on Tuesday.
"Portugal was certainly the trigger, and the mood in the financial markets has turned a bit cautious," said a Singapore-based trader.
The dollar edged lower against a basket of currencies , as the euro regained some lost ground with short-term players covered short positions ahead of a European Central Bank policy meeting.
Investors were also watching the ongoing strike in Freeport-McMoran's Indonesia mine as well as the threat of a strike in South Africa's main gold mines, which could spur price rally should any serious production disruption occur.
Spot gold rose to $1,518.44, its highest since June 24, before easing to $1,516.94 by 0626 GMT, up $1.24 from the previous close.
U.S. gold
The short-term technical picture has turned positive, with spot gold expected to rebound further towards $1,550 per ounce, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.
Brokerage MF Global expects gold to remain rangebound between $1,490 to $1,550 in July, supported by expectations that global monetary policy will remain supportive even though recent manufacturing data has improved.
"The rebound in global manufacturing will simply return the economy to a sub-par rate of recovery, which should create an environment of slow but stable growth, volatility in inflation, and accommodative monetary policy," the firm said in a research note.
"Such ingredients should maintain a favorable environment for the gold market this month."
Spot silver led the precious metals complex with a 1 percent gain. It rose earlier to $35.92, highest since June 23.
Spot platinum hit $1,739.50, its highest in nearly two weeks, in an attempt to cross above the 20-day moving average at $1,740.70. It was last quoted at $1,736.50.
Spot palladium rose to a three-week high of $775.25, building on gains in the past six consecutive sessions on back of strong equity performance, before easing to $773.20. Precious metals prices 0626 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1516.94 1.24 +0.08 6.87 Spot Silver 35.82 0.37 +1.04 16.07 Spot Platinum 1736.50 -0.55 -0.03 -1.75 Spot Palladium 773.20 2.82 +0.37 -3.29 TOCOM Gold 3953.00 50.00 +1.28 6.01 59047 TOCOM Platinum 4557.00 46.00 +1.02 -2.96 13434 TOCOM Silver 93.10 4.20 +4.72 14.94 816 TOCOM Palladium 2024.00 44.00 +2.22 -3.48 494 COMEX GOLD AUG1 1517.50 4.80 +0.32 6.76 8033 COMEX SILVER SEP1 35.86 0.45 +1.26 15.89 3634 Euro/Dollar 1.4454 Dollar/Yen 80.85 TOCOM prices in yen per gram. Spot prices in $ per ounce. COMEX gold and silver contracts show the most active months (Editing by Himani Sarkar)