1. Yellen under the spotlights

Markets looked ahead to the widely-anticipated speech from Federal Reserve (Fed) chair Janet Yellen at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Friday at 14:00GMT, for some clarity as to the timing for when the U.S. central bank could raise interest rates.

After a string of hawkish remarks over the last two weeks from various Fed officials, markets were set to gauge Yellen’s own stance at the helm of the U.S. central bank, but experts were skeptical get the Fed chief would be willing to provide specific details.

Fed fund futures priced in the possibility of a rate hike for the September meeting at 27%, while odds for a move in December were 55.4%.

2. USD, Gold and U.S. futures little changed

The assets most affected by potential Fed moves, or lack of action, were staging a holding pattern ahead of the risk event.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, slipped 0.08% to 94.60, at 9:49AM GMT.

U.S. futures pointed to a flat open on Friday with investors reluctant to make a big move before Yellen’s remarks. At 9:49AM GMT, the blue-chip Dow futures inched up 7 points, or 0.04%, S&P 500 futures edged forward 2 points, or 0.07%, and the Nasdaq 100 futures traded up 2 points, or 0.03%.

Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched up 0.34% to $1,329.15 a troy ounce.

3. USA Q2 GDP out soon

The U.S. will release revised figures on second quarter economic growth at 12:30GMT, on Friday. The data is expected to show that the economy expanded by 1.1% in the April-June period, downwardly revised from a preliminary estimate of 1.2%.

Besides the GDP report, the University of Michigan will release revised consumer sentiment numbers for August.

4. Japan’s inflation lowest in 3-years

Japan's consumer price index (CPI) fell by the most in more than three years in July as more firms delayed price hikes due to already weak consumption.

The nationwide core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices but includes oil products, fell 0.5% in July from a year earlier, the fifth straight month of declines, according to a report released Friday. It exceeded a median forecast for a 0.4% decline and June's 0.4% drop.

The data will keep the Bank of Japan (BoJ) under pressure to expand an already massive stimulus program.