Precious-Gold steady ahead of Fed Chair Warsh's Jackson Hole speech

"Basically ahead of Kevin Warsh's remarks, traders are not willing to build any large positions, which kind of explains why markets haven't really moved that much in recent times," said Fawad Razaqzada, a market analyst at Forex.com.

Fed officials shared their concerns about the U.S. inflation landscape on Thursday, as central bankers gathered in Jackson Hole. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack reiterated that interest rates may need to rise to curb inflation.

Their comments came a day after data showed the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, a key inflation gauge for the central bank, stood at 3.7% in the 12 months through July.

Traders see a 36% chance of a U.S. rate hike in September, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Warsh is scheduled to speak at around 1400 GMT.

Gold tends to lose appeal in a high interest rate environment as it offers no yield.

"To me, it looks like investors are trying to move away from the U.S. dollar and look for alternative currencies or currencies where there's a better fiscal discipline than the U.S.... if we can get parts up $4,600 area where we have seen a bit of a struggle this week, then from there, gold could easily climb back towards that $5,000 level," Razaqzada said.

Gold discounts in India, however, plunged this week, as demand fell sharply on market speculation that the government could consider rolling back a recent hike in import duties. GOL/AS

Spot silver XAG= rose 2.02% to $70.65 per ounce, platinum XPT= was up 2% at $1,882.70 and palladium XPD= gained 6.2% to $1,434.25 an ounce, with all three on track to post weekly gains.

Gold prices were little changed on Friday as investors held off on making large bets ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium, seeking clues on the central bank's policy path.