Gold ticks up in range-bound trade ahead of U.S. Fed meet

* Dollar down for fourth session running * Fed likely to hike interest rate by 75 bps on Wednesday * SPDR Gold Trust holdings fall about 0.1% on MondayGold prices edged up in range-bound trading on Tuesday as the dollar weakened, with investors avoiding big bets ahead of a likely large U.S. interest rate hike. Spot gold was up 0.5% at $1,726.83 per ounce, as of 0725 GMT. U.S. gold futures advanced 0.3% to $1,724.90 per ounce. The dollar slipped for a fourth straight session, down 0.1% against its rivals, making gold less expensive for buyers holding other currencies. "We're not really seeing a tremendous amount of directional conviction here. It seems like the market is most importantly waiting for the Fed announcement," said Ilya Spivak, a currency strategist at DailyFX. "However, markets over the past two weeks have been consistent with gold picking up and the dollar pulling back, suggesting they are kind of getting comfortable with where the rates outlook they think is going." The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points at the conclusion of its policy meeting on Wednesday. A hike of that magnitude would effectively close out pandemic-era support for the economy. Expectations around a 100 bps rate hike surged after U.S. annual consumer prices saw their sharpest spike in more than four decades in June. However, traders dialled down those bets following recent weak economic readings.The European Central Bank may not be done with big rate hikes after its initial half-point increase last week, Latvian central bank governor Martins Kazaks said in an interview with Bloomberg News. Rising interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion. Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.06% to 1,005.29 tonnes on Monday. Meanwhile, Asian shares pared losses as investor sentiment improved on China's reported plans to tackle a debt crisis in real estate development. Elsewhere, spot silver rose 1.2% to $18.63 per ounce, platinum gained 0.9% to $887.10 and palladium climbed 0.5% to $2,018.09.