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 was down 0.2% to $1,495.80 per ounce, as of 08:05 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 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.

Source : Reuters