Gold retreats from 1-week tops, trades with modest losses

• Gold failed to capitalize on the overnight positive move to one-week tops.
• A modest USD uptick, pickup in the US bond yields exerted some pressure.
• Investors now look forward to the US economic data for a fresh impetus.

Gold edged lower through the early European session on the last trading day of the week and retreated further from one-week tops set on Thursday.

The precious metal gained some traction on Thursday amid reviving safe-haven demand on the back of some political uncertainty stemming out of the US President Donald Trump’s impeachment by the House of Representatives.

Upside remains capped

This coupled with a modest US dollar weakness – further weighed down by softer second-tier US economic data – provided an additional boost to the dollar-denominated commodity and collaborated to the overnight positive momentum.

However, the fact that Trump is likely to survive a trial in the GOP-led Senate next month, coupled with the recent optimism over the phase one US-China trade deal weighed on the commodity's safe-haven status and capped gains.

This coupled with a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields also played its part in keeping a lid on any runaway rally for the non-yielding yellow metal, rather prompted some selling on the last trading day of the week.

The commodity's inability to capitalize on a move beyond the recent trading range points to persistent selling pressure at higher levels. However, it will be prudent to wait for some follow-through selling before confirming the bearish bias.

Moving ahead, investors now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the final Q3 GDP growth figures. This will be followed by personal income/spending data and the Core PCE price index might provide a fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch