PRECIOUS-Gold set for worst week in nearly 5 months; Powell's speech in focus

* Gold down nearly 1.2% so far this week
* Palladium on track for third weekly gain
* SPDR Gold holdings up by about 27 tonnes this month

(Updates prices)
By Harshith Aranya
Aug 23 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Friday and was set for its
worst week in nearly five months, as lack of clarity from the
U.S. Federal Reserve on the outlook for interest rate cuts
triggered investors to cash in some gains ahead of Jerome
Powell's speech at Jackson Hole.
Spot gold XAU= was down 0.2% to $1,495.80 per ounce, as of
0805 GMT.
The metal has lost nearly 1.2% so far this week, on track
for its biggest weekly percentage decline since March 29.
U.S. gold futures GCcv1 also slipped 0.2% to $1,505.50 an
ounce.
The market is closely watching Fed Chairman Powell's speech
at the Jackson Hole seminar due later in the day (1400 GMT) for
clarity on monetary policy after minutes of the U.S. central
bank's July meeting tempered hopes of aggressive rate cuts.
"There is no clear direction on what the Fed is doing, so
people are on the sidelines until they hear concrete answers,"
said Brian Lan, managing director at dealer GoldSilver Central
in Singapore.
"Some people are taking out profits off the table," he
added.
Underscoring divisions within the Fed, two central bank
officials said on Thursday the U.S. economy does not need more
stimulus at this point while another said he was "open-minded."
Meanwhile, in the U.S. bond market, the two-year, 10-year
Treasury yield curve briefly moved back into inversion
overnight. This inversion has heralded several past U.S.
recessions.
It had flashed recession red lights last Wednesday for the
first time since the 2007-08 financial crisis. US/
"There are still concerns about the economy, trade
uncertainty, geo-political tensions; all these things have not
gone away, which is supportive for gold," said John Sharma, an
economist with National Australia Bank.
Gold is used as a safe investment during times of political
and financial uncertainty.
Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD ,
the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, have
increased by about 27 tonnes so far this month. GOL/ETF
Traders are also awaiting the Group of Seven summit this
weekend for clues on what additional steps policymakers may take
to boost economic growth.
On the technical side, a bullish target at $1,524 per ounce
has been aborted for spot gold, as it has more or less broken a
support at $1,497, said Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao.
Among other precious metals, silver XAG= was flat at
$17.01 per ounce; while platinum XPT= rose 0.2% to $858.76,
keeping it on course for a weekly gain.
Palladium XPD= also rose 0.2% to $1,489.52 per ounce,
putting the autocatalyst on track for a third consecutive weekly
rise, gaining 2.9% so far this week.

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