Gold consolidates in a range, just above $1280 level

   •  Receding safe-haven demand keeps a lid on any meaningful up-move.
   •  Subdued USD demand/weaker bond yields helped limit the downside.

Gold extended its sideways consolidative price action through the mid-European session and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading band, just above $1280 level.

After good two-way moves at the start of a new trading week, led by the incoming US-China trade-related headlines, the commodity now seems to have stabilized, albeit struggled for a firm direction and remained well below the $1287-88 supply zone.

Despite the latest escalation in the US-China trade tensions, the fact that negotiations will continue this week eased concerns about a full-blown trade war between the world's two largest economies and dampened the precious metal safe-haven status.

The downside, however, remained cushioned amid a subdued US Dollar price action, which tends to underpin demand for the dollar-denominated commodity, and a negative trading sentiment around European equity markets. 

This coupled with the ongoing slide in the US Treasury bond yields extended some additional support to the non-yielding yellow metal and further collaborated to a range-bound price action amid absent relevant market moving economic releases from the US.

Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a sustained move in either direction before positioning for the commodity’s intraday momentum ahead of the Fed Governor Randal Quarles' scheduled speech later during the US trading session.

Technical levels to watch