Gold prices gained on Friday as investors positioned themselves for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech that could shed more light on a potential US September interest rate cut.
Spot gold rose 0.7% to $2,500.83 per ounce by 1219 GMT, after hitting a record high of $2,531.60 on Tuesday. US gold futures gained 0.8% to $2,536.50.
Bullion fell more than 1% in the previous session, setting it on course for a 0.3% weekly decline, pressured by a rebound in the dollar and higher Treasury yields, Reuters reported.
"I think it's position-taking ahead of the expected rate cut, which I think is now looking like almost a certainty in September," said independent analyst Ross Norman.
Traders are expecting a 74% chance of a 25 basis points cut in September, while 26% expect a deeper 50 bps cut. Gold tends to thrive in a low interest rate environment as it yields no interest by itself.
"If Powell now hints at stronger interest rate cuts as a result, we could see new record highs for gold," Commerzbank said in a note.
"Given that the market has already priced in Fed rate cuts of around 100 basis points by the end of the year, the bar for a dovish surprise is likely to be set quite high."
Powell is expected to deliver speech at the annual central banking conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at 1400 GMT.
Meanwhile, India's silver imports are on course to nearly double this year due to rising demand from solar panel and electronics makers and as investors bet the metal will give better returns than gold, leading importers said on Friday.
Spot silver rose nearly 1.5% to $29.41 per ounce and was up 1.3% for the week.
Platinum gained 0.3% to $946.35 and palladium steadied at $933.71. Both metals were on track for a weekly decline.
