Gold consolidates in a range just above $1290 level/weekly lows

   •  Renewed USD selling/weaker US bond yields lend some support on Friday.
   •  A subdued action in equity markets does little to influence safe-haven demand.
   •  Traders now eye the US consumer sentiment index for some short-term impetus.

Gold was seen consolidating the overnight slump to weekly lows and seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses through the early European session on Friday.

The precious metal failed to capitalize on it recent positive momentum to the $1310-11 supply zone and witnessed a sharp intraday downfall on Thursday amid a goodish US Dollar rebound from near two-week lows, further boosted by robust US economic data. 

Data released on Thursday showed initial weekly jobless claims unexpectedly dropped below 200K for the first time since 1969, pointed to the underlying strength in the labor market, while the headline PPI accelerated to 2.2% y/y rate in March.

Stronger data also lifted yields on the benchmark 10-year US government bond back to 2.5% mark and aggravated the selling pressure surrounding the non-yielding yellow metal, taking along some short-term trading stops near the key $1300 psychological mark. 

The greenback, however, failed to preserve/build on the overnight gains, which coupled with a fresh leg of a downtick in the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the dollar-denominated commodity and helped limit further losses on Friday.

Meanwhile, a mixed trading sentiment around equity markets did little to influence the precious metal's safe-haven demand, with the USD/US bond yield dynamics turning out to be key factors contributing to a subdued/range-bound price action. 

Moving ahead, today's relative thin US economic docket - highlighting the only release of Prelim UoM Consumer Sentiment, though is unlikely to provide any meaningful impetus, might still be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch