* Spot gold may edge up into $1,343-$1,352 range - technicals * U.S. inflation data due 1330 GMT * SPDR Gold holdings rise 0.36 pct on Tuesday (Updates prices) By Eileen Soreng Feb 14 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose for a third straight session on Wednesday to hit a one-week high, buoyed by a weaker dollar, while investors awaited U.S. inflation data for clues on the pace of future U.S. interest rate increases. Spot gold was up 0.2 percent at $1,332.01 an ounce, as of 0745 GMT. Earlier in the session, it hit $1,336.86, its highest since Feb. 6. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 percent to $1,334.7 per ounce. The dollar index was down 0.1 percent against a basket of currencies at 89.590, after touching a one-week low of 89.378. A retreat in the greenback helped the bullion - which is priced in dollars - gain over 2 percent from a one-month low of $1,306.81 hit last week. "With the U.S. dollar once again striking a bearish chord, the long gold set up looks favourable," said Stephen Innes, head of trading APAC at OANDA. "However, with nearly 100 percent of gold appeal trading off the back of U.S. dollar weakness, the U.S. CPI (consumer price index) reading could be a day of reckoning for gold bulls," Innes added. The market on Wednesday looked forward to U.S. inflation report for the month of January, due for release later in the day, which could soothe, or incite, concerns of faster rate hikes globally. Inflation can boost demand for safe-haven assets such as bullion, which tends to gain in times of crisis. However, expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates to fight inflation make the non-yielding metal less attractive. "Recent price action is indicative of short-term positioning, with expectations of strength toward $1,335 - $1,340 as short positions are further tested," MKS PAMP Group trader Sam Laughlin said. "The caveat to a short-term push higher, however, is the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, which will remove physical demand from the market." Spot gold is expected to edge up into a range of $1,343-$1,352 per ounce, as suggested by a retracement analysis, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. Meanwhile, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.36 percent to 823.66 tonnes on Tuesday, following their worst weekly fall since July 30. Among other precious metals, silver rose 0.3 percent to $16.59 per ounce. Platinum was up 0.2 percent at $976.10, while palladium gained 0.2 percent to $986.49 per ounce. (Reporting by Eileen Soreng in Bengaluru,; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Biju Dwarakanath)