July 9 (Reuters) - Gold prices ticked up on Tuesday, with investors awaiting Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony and June inflation data to assess the next policy move by the U.S. central bank.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,364.03 per ounce, as of 0112 GMT, after falling more than 1% on Monday. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.3% to $2,369.70.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate later in the day and the House on Wednesday could give investors more clues on the U.S. central bank's likely direction of interest rates.
* According to CME's Fedwatch Tool, markets are pricing in a 77% chance of a September rate cut by the Fed. Lower rates reduce the opportunity cost of holding zero-yielding bullion.
* The path U.S. inflation is expected to follow over coming years generally softened in June, amid retreating projections of price increases for a wide array of consumer goods and services, a Fed Bank of New York report released on Monday said.
* Market focus is also on June consumer (CPI) and producer (PPI) price indexes scheduled to be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
* Bullion prices rose more than 1% on Friday after a jobs report showed that the U.S. labor market was losing steam as unemployment rate climbs to 4.1%.
* Spot silver rose 0.4% to $30.90, platinum edged 1% higher to $1,006.20 and palladium gained 0.6% to $1,015.48.
(Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
