09:01 AM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Gold rose early on Friday following two days of losses after the metal rose to a record high earlier this week. This comes as the dollar and treasury yields eased ahead of a key speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Gold for December delivery was last seen up US$18.90 to US$2,535.60 per ounce.

The precious metal closed at a record US$2,550.60 per ounce on Tuesday on expectations the Fed will begin cutting interest rates at the two-day meeting of its policy group that ends on Sept.18. Powell will address the central bank's annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, symposium later on Friday morning and while he is unlikely to confirm rate cuts are on the way, he may be able to offer signals to confirm market expectations.

"Gold is heading for a small weekly loss after dipping on Thursday as the greenback and Treasury yields rose ahead of Powell's speech, and after the rally to a fresh record earlier in the week looked exhausted. Anything but signalling the beginning of a rate-cutting cycle next month may unsettle a few bulls, but overall, the reasons behind gold's strong performance have not gone away," Saxo Bank noted.

The dollar edged down ahead of Powell's comments, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.05 points to 101.46.

Treasury yields also narrowed, with the U.S. two-year note last seen paying 4.004%, down 1.2 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 1.8 basis points to 3,839%.