02:00 PM EDT, 06/26/2025 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold edged higher mid-afternoon on Thursday as the dollar fell to the lowest in more than three years on expectations the Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates this year despite concerns over the central bank's independence amid attacks from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Gold for August delivery was last seen up US$3.90 to US$3,347.00 per ounce.

The price of the precious metal has been rangebound for much of the past month, despite rising to a record high of US$3,452.80 on June 13 amid brief safe haven demand after Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran.

"Since mid-June, gold has mostly slid lower, now so after the tabling of some uncertainty premium given the

ceasefire in the Middle East. This has challenged some of the positioning in the market, with the net long not making much money this quarter," Christopher Louney, a commodities strategist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote.

A falling dollar is offering support, with the ICE dollar index last seen down 0.56 points to 97.12, after earlier touching 97.0, the lowest since March, 2022. The drop comes as the Wall Street Journal reported Trump is likely to name a successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell as soon as September, even though Powell's term does not end until May of next year.

Trump has been pushing Powell to speed interest-rate cuts, even as the the Fed Chair this week told Congress he expects the central bank to continue to assess the effect of the President's tariff policies on inflation before further cuts. The Fed is still expected to lower rates by 50 basis points by year end.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis issued its second revision to first-quarter gross domestic product on Thursday, saying the economy contracted 0.5%, down from a rise of 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, and under the consensus estimate for a rise of 0.2%, according to Marketwatch.

Treasury yields fell, with the U.S. two-year note last seen paying 3.719%, down 7.4 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 3.4 points to 4.258%.