02:00 PM EDT, 05/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates prices.)

Gold edged higher midafternoon on Thursday as the dollar rose and treasury yields fell ahead of U.S. inflation data coming on Friday.

Gold for August delivery was last seen up US$4.10 to US$2,368.20 per ounce.

The drop comes ahead of the Friday release of the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure Index for April, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure. The consensus estimate is for inflation to be at a 2.7% annualized rate, according to Marketwatch, unchanged from March and still ahead of the Fed's 2% target, raising doubts the central bank will soon move to lower interest rates.

The dollar rose, making gold more expensive for international buyers. The ICE dollar index was last seen up 0.05 points to 104.66.

Treasury yields narrowed, bullish for gold since it offers no interest, The U.S. two-year note was last seen paying 4.933%, down 4.8 basis points, while the yield on the 10-year note was down 7.0 basis points to 4.549%