PRECIOUS-Gold rebounds 1 pct but outlook clouded by ETFs, dollar

* Gold to retrace to $1,394 -technicals * Coming Up: U.S. durable goods orders; 1230 GMT (Updates prices, adds quotes) By Lewa Pardomuan SINGAPORE, April 24 (Reuters) - Gold rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday on bargain-hunting after a drop in the previous session, but pressure from a firm U.S. dollar, strong equities and daily falls in the holdings of exchange-traded funds look set to cap prices. Although demand for gold bars, coins, nuggets and other products has surged in Asia after prices plunged to their weakest in more than two years, investor confidence is still reeling after bullion's spectacular fall. "Good physical demand in China or in Hong Kong supports gold, but sentiment is still bearish," said Peter Fung, head of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong. "It looks like on the upside we still can see some people liquidating, or taking profits. So, it's quite mixed from here," said Fung, adding that prices could fall back to $1,300. Cash gold hit an intraday high of $1,429.81 an ounce and stood at $1,428.16 by 0549 GMT, up $15.92. Gold sank to around $1,321 on April 16, the lowest in more than two years, in a sell-off that surprised ardent gold investors and bulls. U.S. gold futures for June delivery hit a session high of $1,429.50 an ounce, which was partly driven by gains in Shanghai gold futures. Cash gold, which has dropped about 15 percent this year, is torn between a rise in demand for jewellery and coins, and investors in exchange-traded funds cutting exposure to it on worries about central bank sales and prospects of easing inflation. The SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.68 percent to 1,097.19 tonnes on Tuesday from 1,104.71 tonnes on Monday. The current holdings are at multi-year lows. But premiums for gold bars soared to multi-year highs in Asia after a spate of physical buying ran down supplies, with dealers in top consumer India expecting a surge in imports this month. On Wednesday, sellers in Hong Kong were still quoting premiums for gold bars as high as $3 an ounce to spot London prices, their highest level since October 2011. "While some physical buyers have been flocking to gold in light of lower prices, ETF investors seem to be heading the other way and cutting their exposure," said Edward Meir, a metals analyst at futures brokerage INTL FCStone. "Right now, we are seeing a mixed bag in the markets, with the precious group slightly higher, but both metals and energy are off in early trading." Gold prices are expected to end 2013 at $1,450 to $1,550 per ounce, only partly recovering from a recent brutal selloff that shook investor confidence after 12 unbroken years of gains, a Reuters poll showed. In other markets, shares advanced in Asia on Wednesday, tracking global equities higher on the back of solid U.S. earnings, but the euro was pressured by soft German data underscoring the still-fragile state of the euro zone economy. Precious metals prices 0549 GMT Metal Last Change Pct chg YTD pct chg Volume Spot Gold 1428.16 15.92 +1.13 -14.71 Spot Silver 23.21 0.31 +1.35 -23.35 Spot Platinum 1426.24 12.87 +0.91 -7.09 Spot Palladium 678.97 7.47 +1.11 -1.88 COMEX GOLD JUN3 1427.70 18.90 +1.34 -14.80 24729 COMEX SILVER MAY3 23.20 0.38 +1.66 -23.27 8522 Euro/Dollar 1.3008 Dollar/Yen 99.40 (Editing by Clarence Fernandez)