Gold edges up ahead of Yellen testimony; Fed officials cautious on rate hike

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Gold prices edged further away from a 4-month low on Wednesday, as investors awaited testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and central bank officials expressed caution about further interest rate hikes.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Spot gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,218.60 per ounce at 0046 GMT, adding to a 0.3 percent gain in the previous session, its biggest rise since June 23.

* U.S. gold futures for August delivery rose 0.3 percent to $1,218.30 per ounce.

* Ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's testimony to Congress on the state of the U.S. economy, two of her colleagues cited low wage growth and muted inflation as reasons for caution on further interest rate increases.

* Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday he finds it hard to believe that the U.S. economy is in danger of overheating when wage growth is so low.

* Nine out of 12 regional Federal Reserve banks wanted an increase in the rate commercial banks are charged for emergency loans ahead of the U.S central bank's last policy meeting, minutes from a discussion of the discount rate showed on Tuesday.

* Investors are betting the European Central Bank could deliver its first interest rate rise since 2011 by July next year.

* President Donald Trump is increasingly unlikely to nominate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen next year for a second term, and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn is the leading candidate to succeed her, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing four people close to the process.

* President Donald Trump's eldest son eagerly agreed last year to meet a woman he was told was a Russian government lawyer who might have damaging information about Democratic White House rival Hillary Clinton as part of Moscow's official support for his father, according to emails released on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Nithin Prasad in Bengaluru)