Gold in search of a firm direction, holds steady above $1410 level

 Gold lacked any firm directional bias and seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses on the first trading day of a new week. 

A combination of diverging forces failed to provide any meaningful impetus and led to a subdued/range-bound price action through the early European session on Monday. A slew of mostly upbeat Chinese macro data undermined demand for traditional safe-haven assets and turned out to be one of the key factors that did little to assist the precious metal to build on Friday's positive move. 

This coupled with a follow-through pickup in the US Treasury bond yields further collaborated towards capping gains for the non-yielding yellow metal. However, the prevailing US Dollar selling bias - amid expectations of an interest rate cut by the Fed later this July, extended some support to the dollar-denominated commodity and helped limit any meaningful downfall.

Moving ahead, Monday's US economic docket - featuring the release of Empire State Manufacturing Index, followed by a scheduled speech by New York Fed President John Williams will now be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities later during the early North-American session.

Technical levels to watch