Gold inches up on improving Fed rate cut bets, Mideast tensions

Gold prices edged higher on Thursday, aided by rising expectations of a U.S. interest rate cut and persistent tensions in the Middle East, while traders awaited economic data for insights into the Federal Reserve's policy path.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.3% to $2,387.37 per ounce, as of 0157 GMT. However, U.S. gold futures slipped 0.3% to $2,426.00.


* Market see a 72% chance of 50 basis points cut in September, up from 70% on Monday, according to the CME FedWatch Tool, with an additional cut anticipated in December.

* BofA Global Research brought forward its expectation of the first cut to September from December, while other major brokerages now expect the Fed to cut rates in all the three remaining meetings of the year.

* Lower interest rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion.

* Market focus will be on initial jobless claims data due at 1230 GMT. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin is also speaking later in the day.

* China's central bank held back on buying gold for its reserves for a third straight month in July, official data showed on Wednesday.

* Iran will not stay quiet over aggression, President Masoud Pezeshkian told French counterpart Emmanuel Macron according to state media, amid fears of more regional conflict after the killing in Tehran last week of Hamas' leader.

* Meanwhile, Britain's Royal Mint announced it will extract gold from electronic waste such as televisions, laptops and mobiles at a new factory in south Wales.

* Spot silver was up 0.6% to $26.76 per ounce, platinum fell 0.4% to $915.30 and palladium gained 0.56% to $887.25.

* Impala Platinum said on Wednesday it will report a basic loss of up to 17.8 billion rand ($972.4 million) after suffering $1 billion of impairments due to the decline in the value of its assets on the back of plunging metal prices.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 1230 US Initial Jobless Clm 3 Aug, w/e