* Spot gold rose 2% on Wednesday

* U.S. launches fresh strikes on Iran

* June U.S. PCE data due at 1230 GMT

(Rewrites for European morning open)

By Sukanya Mitra

July 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Thursday as

investors assessed the Federal Reserve's decision to keep

interest rates unchanged this month and rising tensions in the

Middle East that have heightened inflation concerns, clouding

the policy outlook.

Spot gold was little changed at $4,062.30 per ounce

by 0841 GMT.

U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.7% to

$4,060.60.

The Fed on Wednesday left its benchmark rate in the

3.50%-3.75% range, while U.S. central bank chief Kevin Warsh

pledged an unwavering commitment to bring inflation down. Spot

gold prices rose about 2% after the policy decision.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it struck dozens of

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran, in

retaliation to Tehran firing ballistic missiles at U.S. troops

in Jordan on Wednesday.

Brent crude prices climbed more than $1 a barrel on

Thursday.

Higher oil prices keep the market expecting the Fed's next

move to be a rise in policy rates, which is not helping gold,

said UBS analyst, Giovanni Staunovo.

"To see gold rising, we need an improvement in investment

demand and that requires market participants to shift

expectations towards rate cuts," Staunovo added.

Despite being known as an inflation hedge, higher-for-longer

rates tend to diminish bullion's appeal due to its non-yielding

characteristic.

Traders are pricing in about a 65% chance of a rate hike at

the Fed's September meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Investors now await June U.S. Personal Consumption

Expenditures (PCE) data, due at 1230 GMT.

Elsewhere, India has seen a rise in unofficial gold inflows

since the government raised import tariffs on the precious metal

earlier this year, the World Gold Council said.

Among other metals, spot silver slipped 0.03% to

$57.62 per ounce, platinum dropped 0.4% to $1,605.20, and

palladium rose 1.8% to $1,268.56.