Gold oscillates in a range around $1280 area, FOMC awaited

   •  Bulls fail to capitalize on intraday uptick amid the prevalent risk-on mood.
   •  Persistent USD weakness seemed to lend some support and help limit losses.
   •  Investors keenly await fresh catalyst from the upcoming FOMC policy update.

Gold traded with a mild negative bias through the early North-American session, albeit lacked any firm directional bias and remained well within this week's broader trading range. 

The prevalent risk-on mood, as depicted by a positive trading sentiment around global equity markets, turned out to be one of the key factors denting demand for traditional safe-haven assets and exerted some downward pressure on the precious metal.

However, the prevalent US Dollar selling bias, failing to gain any respite from today's upbeat ADP report, extended some support to the dollar-denominated commodity and helped defend/bounce off weekly lows support near the $1278 region. 

Despite some good two-way price action, traders still seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bet and await fresh catalyst from the latest FOMC monetary policy update, which might help determine the next leg of a directional move for the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Heading into the key event risk, the release of ISM manufacturing PMI - another key highlight from today's US economic docket, might contribute towards producing some meaningful trading opportunities. 

Technical levels to watch