Gold trades with modest losses, just above $1550 level
- Trade optimism boosted the risk sentiment and weighed on gold’s safe-haven status.
- The downside remains cushioned; US retail sales data eyed for a fresh impetus.
Gold traded with a mild negative bias on Thursday and eroded a part of the previous session's positive move, albeit has still managed to hold above $1550 level.
The prevailing risk-on mood – amid optimism over the conclusion of a historic US-China trade deal – turned out to be one of the key factors driving flows away from traditional safe-haven assets, including gold.
Improving global risk sentiment was further reinforced by a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, which further played its part in exerting some downward pressure on the non-yielding yellow metal.
Meanwhile, positive US bond yields underpinned the US dollar demand and added to a mildly negative tone surrounding the dollar-denominated commodity, albeit the downside seems cushioned, at least for now.
The US, however, decided to keep in place levies on some $360 billion of Chinese goods. This coupled with the fact that the interim deal does not address some of the structural issues helped limit deeper losses.
Hence, it will be prudent to wait for some strong follow-through selling before confirming a near-term top and positioning for an extension of the commodity's recent pullback from multi-year tops set this January.
Moving ahead, Thursday's US economic docket – highlighting the release of monthly retail sales data – will now be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.
Technical levels to watch