Shafaq News/ Gold prices firmed on Tuesday as the dollar remained soft, with investors awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony and June inflation data to assess the next policy move by the U.S. central bank.

Spot gold rose 0.4% at $2,368.06 per ounce, as of 0502 GMT, after falling over 1% on Monday. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.5% to $2,373.90.

The U.S. dollar hung near a multi-week low versus major peers, making bullion cheaper for other currency holders.

Powell will deliver two days of testimony before Congress, beginning later in the day with the Senate and followed by the House on Wednesday.

"If Powell directly or indirectly implies that weakness is seeping through the U.S. economy, then it will be positive for gold," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst for Asia Pacific at OANDA.

A jobs report on Friday showed that the U.S. labour market was losing steam as the unemployment rate climbed to 4.1%.

Markets are pricing in a 77% chance of a rate cut in September and a second one by December, according to the CME's Fedwatch Tool.

Non-yielding bullion's appeal tends to shine in a lower interest rate environment.

Softer inflation readings could see gold prices test the minor congestion resistance level of $2,410 in the short term, Wong said.

Market participants were also awaiting June consumer (CPI) and producer (PPI) price indexes data scheduled to be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Physical gold demand likely softened in the second quarter but should rebound into year-end, analysts at Citi said in a note.

Underlying gold consumption growth is still trending positive for 2024 and could help push spot prices towards the $2,400-$2,600 range in the second half as financial investors play catch-up, the note added.

Spot silver rose 0.7% to $31.00 per ounce, platinum edged 1.4% higher to $1,010.70 and palladium gained 0.9% to $1,017.94.

(Reuters)