PRECIOUS-Gold dips as rate hike bets, strong dollar trump safe-haven bids

       * Minutes of Fed June meeting due on Wednesday
    * Gold could move between $1,750 and $1,900 for a while -
analyst
    * India's June gold imports treble y/y on price correction
    * Russia's Potanin ready to discuss Nornickel-Rusal merger

 (Adds comment, updates prices)
    By Arundhati Sarkar
    July 5 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Tuesday pressured by rate
hike expectations and a stronger dollar, but growing recession
fears kept safe-haven bullion pinned near the key support level
of $1,800 an ounce.
    Spot gold        fell 0.4% to $1,801.51 per ounce by 1231
GMT, while U.S. gold futures        steadied at $1,802.10.
    The dollar        climbed to its highest in about two
decades, making gold less attractive for overseas buyers.
    "Gold could continue its lateral movement between $1,750 and
$1,900 for a while," said Carlo Alberto De Casa, external market
analyst for Kinesis Money.
    "The strength of the USD is making it complicated for
bullion to rebound further, but at the same time, investors want
to have bullion in their portfolio due to the high uncertainty."
    While gold is considered a hedge against inflation, rising
interest rate hikes have heaped pressure on the non-yielding
asset.
    Minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and
U.S. non-farm payroll numbers will be scanned this week for
indications on the pace of policy tightening.
    Gold represents an important instrument to balance financial
portfolios amid the current economic uncertainty, De Casa said.
    In the physical markets, India's gold imports in June nearly
trebled from year-ago levels as prices corrected, and Zimbabwe's
central bank said it would start selling gold coins amid runaway
inflation.
    Among other precious metals, spot silver        fell 0.6% to
$19.84 per ounce, platinum        slipped 1.9% to $868.87 and
palladium        edged 0.9% lower to $1,904.81.
    "The near-term technicals for gold and silver are fully
bearish, which is also inviting the technically based
speculators to play the short sides of the futures markets,"
said Jim Wyckoff, senior analyst at Kitco Metals.
    Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin, the largest
shareholder at top palladium producer Nornickel          , said
he was ready to discuss a possible merger with aluminium
producer Rusal          , in part as a defence against Western
sanctions.

 (Reporting by Arundhati Sarkar in Bengaluru; editing by Jason
Neely, David Evans and Aditya Soni)