Gold retreats back below $1280 amid resurgent USD

   •  Extends consolidative price action around 100-DMA. 
   •  Retreats from 3-week old trading range resistance.

Gold failed to build on strong overnight gains and is now retracing from the top end of nearly 3-week old trading range barrier near the $1282-84 region. 

Against the backdrop of political risk in the Middle East, investors shied away from initiating fresh long positions amid global risk-on trade, as depicted by strong gains across global equity markets, which was seen weighing on the precious metal's safe-haven demand. 

Adding to this, a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields underpinned the US Dollar demand and attracted some additional selling pressure around the non-yielding/dollar-denominated yellow metal. 

Looking at the broader picture, the commodity has been oscillating in $20 broader trading range around 100-day SMA and hence, it would be prudent to wait for a decisive break in either direction before positioning for the next leg of directional move.

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through retracement below $1276-75 area (100-day SMA) would reinforce the near-term trading range and drag the metal back towards $1269 intermediate support en-route the $1265 region.

On the upside, $1282-84 zone remains a key hurdle, which if conquered is likely to trigger a short-covering bounce towards the $1290 region ahead of $1295 horizontal level.