July 11 (Reuters) - Gold prices held steady on Thursday, with investors awaiting U.S. inflation data due later in the day for more insights on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was nearly unchanged at $2,372.99 per ounce, as of 0042 GMT. U.S. gold futures were flat at $2,378.40.
* Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the U.S. central bank would make interest rate decisions "when and as" they were needed. On Tuesday, he told House members that "more good data" would build the case for a rate cut.
* Non-yielding gold's appeal tends to shine in a low interest rate environment.
* Markets currently see around 73% odds for a rate cut by September, with a second reduction also seen likely by December, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
* Traders are waiting for the June Consumer Price Index (CPI) report due at 1230 GMT and the Producer Price Index (PPI) report due on Friday.
* U.S. inflation should continue to fall without a significant further rise in the unemployment rate, Fed Governor Lisa Cook said on Wednesday.
* Spot silver rose 0.2% to $30.87 per ounce, platinum ticked up 0.5% to $994.10 and palladium gained 0.4% to $989.93.
* China's consumer prices grew for a fifth month in June but missed expectations, with domestic demand mired on a slow recovery track despite support measures for the world's second-largest economy.
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0600 Germany HICP Final YY June
0600 UK GDP Est 3M/3M May
0600 UK GDP Estimate MM, YY May
0600 UK Services MM, YY May
0600 UK Manufacturing Output MM May
1230 US Core CPI MM, SA; YY, NSA June
1230 US CPI MM, SA; YY, NSA June
1230 US CPI Wage Earner June
1230 US Initial Jobless Clm Weekly (Reporting by Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
