* Yellen to speak at 1400 GMT on Friday
* Gold seen dropping to $1,308 - techs
* SPDR Gold holdings fall on Thursday (Adds comment, updates prices)
By Sethuraman N R
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Gold held steady on Friday above four-week lows hit in the previous session, as the dollar slipped ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen that would be closely watched for directions on U.S. interest rates.
Yellen is scheduled to address a meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at 1400 GMT, after top Fed officials pushed the case for a rate hike in the past week, citing improvement in employment and inflation. have been falling for the last couple of days on uncertainty over Yellen's speech. Any signals on a rate hike would lead gold to $1,280 levels," said Hareesh V, research head at Geofin Comtrade Ltd.
"If prices can breach the major support level of $1,280, they could go towards $1,200."
Spot gold XAU= was up 0.2 percent at $1,323.91 an ounce at 0702 GMT, after touching a four-week low of $1,317.46 in the previous session. The metal was down over 1 percent for the week.
U.S. gold GCcv1 was up 0.2 percent at $1,327.20 an ounce.
Spot gold may break a support at $1,318 per ounce and drop more towards the next support at $1,308, as suggested by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci ratio analysis, said a Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals. showed new orders for U.S. manufactured capital goods rose for a second straight month in July, while another report showed an unexpected drop in the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week. is a chance that Yellen could decide that a stronger signal about near-term policy would now be appropriate in light of diminished risks globally and an improved U.S. labor market," HSBC analyst James Steel said.
The dollar index .DXY , which gauges the greenback against a basket of six major counterparts, edged down 0.1 percent to 94.632. USD/
Rising U.S. interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion and boost the dollar, in which gold is priced.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust GLD , the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.19 percent to 956.59 tonnes on Thursday. GOL/ETF
Silver XAG= was up 0.7 percent at $18.63 an ounce after hitting an 8-week low of $18.46 on Thursday.
Platinum XPT= was 0.7 percent higher at $1,076 after falling to a 1-month low of $1,067.25 in the previous session. Palladium XPD= rose over 1 percent to $693.35.