Gold up over 3 so far this month
Traders eye US PCE due at 1230 GMT
Soft inflation report could push gold to 2,600 analyst
Palladium up 6 in August

Aug 30 Reuters Gold steadied near its alltime high on Friday and was set for a monthly gain, driven by U.S. ratecut bets and geopolitical uncertainty, while focus shifted to a key inflation report.

Spot gold was steady at 2,520.36 per ounce, as of 1132 GMT, just shy of the record high of 2,531.60 hit on Aug. 20. The bullion has gained about 3 for the month.

U.S. gold futures edged 0.3 lower to 2,552.90.

In the Middle East, there are no signs yet of a concrete breakthrough in ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas militants.

Elsewhere, traders see a 67 chance of a 25basispoint bp reduction by the Federal Reserve next month and a 33 chance of a 50bps cut, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

I see gold prices approaching the 3,000 level before the end of the year, driven primarily by a dovish Fed, but also by safehaven demand and continuing central bank purchases, said Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActivTrades.

Lower interest rates increase the appeal of holding nonyielding gold.

Investors now await the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures PCE data due at 1230 GMT. This will be the last PCE report before the Fed39;s highly anticipated September meeting. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a marginal rise in inflation to 2.6 on an annual basis, from the previous month39;s 2.5.

A soft inflation report…