09:30 AM EDT, 07/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Gold edged higher early on Tuesday even as the dollar edged higher ahead of two days of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell and key inflation reports coming later this week.

Gold for August delivery was last seen up US$5.30 to US$2,368.80 per ounce.

Powell will appear before the Senate on Tuesday, followed by testimony to the House on Wednesday. His remarks will be closely watched as the market awaits an indication of when the central bank expects to begin cutting interest rates.

"Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a semi-annual testimony to the US Congress today with the market looking for dovish clues about a potential rate cut in September," Saxo Bank noted.

However two U.S. inflation reports this week may give a firmer indication on the Fed's path going forward. The June Consumer Price Index coming Thursday is expected to show an annualized rise of 3.1%, according to Marketwatch, down from 3.3% in May.

The CPI data will be followed on Friday with the release of the June Producer Price Index, with the consensus estimate expecting a rise of 0.1% from May, up from a drop of 0.2% in that month.

The dollar moved higher early, with the ICE dollar index last seen up 0.07 points to 105.07.

The U.S. two-year note was last seen paying 4.643%, up 0.2 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was up 1.1 basis points to 4.295%.