Gold ticks up on weaker dollar; Warsh's Jackson Hole speech in focus

Spot silver XAG= gained 1.9% to $69.39, platinum XPT= rose 0.6% to $1,839.48 and palladium XPD= was up 0.6% at $1,336.59.

Gold prices edged higher on Thursday on a weaker dollar, while markets awaited Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at Jackson Hole on Friday for clues on the central bank's inflation outlook and monetary policy path.

Spot gold XAU= was up 0.4% at $4,609.97 per ounce by 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT), after settling 1.4% lower on Wednesday in its biggest one-day decline in a week. U.S. gold futures GCcv1 for December delivery rose 0.2% to $4,664.40.

The U.S. dollar eased, making dollar-denominated commodities more affordable for holders of other currencies. USD/

Gold prices climbed to their highest since mid-May earlier this week, with the recent rally driven by renewed dollar-debasement concerns following the U.S. Treasury's move last week to ramp up buybacks of older long-dated bonds.

"I'm bullish (on gold prices) just because strictly the demand right now, you're seeing a lot of demand coming out of the ETF side of it, as well as central bank demand as an alternative asset to the dollar," said Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at StoneX.

Haberkorn added that markets would remain cautious for the remainder of the day as traders await the closely watched Jackson Hole meeting.

Markets now focus on remarks from Warsh at the annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming on Friday, with investors hoping the Fed chair will use his debut speech to explain his roadmap for returning inflation to the Fed's target and what he sees as the bond market's role in that strategy.

Data on Wednesday showed the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which the Fed uses to set its target, increased 3.7% in the 12 months through July, unchanged from June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a PCE reading of 3.6%.