Gold prices rebounded and looked set to scale a fresh peak on Thursday, on mounting expectations for another U.S. interest rate cut this year, while investors awaited Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's address later today for more policy cues.

Spot gold climbed 0.4% to $2,668.05 per ounce, as of 0913 GMT, a few dollars away from the record $2,670.43 it hit on Wednesday.

U.S. gold futures were up 0.2% to $2,691.20.

"Gold price strength is feeding on itself just now. That’s to say momentum is driving speculative flows despite a rising U.S. dollar and Treasury yields," said independent analyst Ross Norman.

"Powell's comments will be observed for indications about the depth of further cuts. But really it's a case of when, not if."

Last week, the Fed trimmed the benchmark policy rate by 50 basis points to 4.75%-5.00%. Traders now see a 62% chance of an additional 50 bps reduction in November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Lower interest rates boost non-yielding gold's appeal.

Powell is set to give opening remarks later in the day at a conference, where New York Fed President John Williams and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will also speak.

Markets will also scan the U.S. jobless claims data on Thursday and the core personal consumption expenditure index - the Fed's preferred inflation indicator - on Friday.

Bullion has risen more than 29% so far in 2024, hitting record highs several times, fuelled by the U.S. rate cuts, safe-haven demand due to geopolitical and economic uncertainty and robust central bank buying.

"In the coming weeks, gold could set new records and we see $3,000 an ounce as the maximum extension of the bullish movement," analysts at Intesa Sanpaolo said.

"We forecast a 4Q24 gold average of $2,595, as some profit-taking could materialize towards year end."

Among other metals, spot silver climbed 0.9% to $32.16 per ounce, holding close to the four-month high it hit on Wednesday.

Platinum rose 1.8% to $1,005.61 and palladium gained 2.4% to $1,062.36.

(Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee and Daksh Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)