Gold slides back to $1310 support area

   •  Reviving USD demand/surging US bond yields keeps exerting downward pressure.
   •  Mixed sentiment around equity markets does little to support safe-haven demand.

Gold traded with a mild negative bias for the third consecutive session and has now dropped back to its immediate support near the $1310 region.

The precious metal extended its rejection slide from 100-day SMA hurdle and has now retreated over 1% from over 2-week tops set last week. Renewed US Dollar buying interest since the mid-US session on Monday was seen as one of the key factors exerting downward pressure on dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. 

Adding to this, easing US-China trade tensions, which kept pushing the US Treasury bond yields higher further collaborated to the ongoing slide witnessed around the non-yielding yellow metal.

Meanwhile, a mixed sentiment around equity markets, which tends to benefit traditional safe-haven assets, did little to extend any support and stall the precious metal's slide to multi-day lows, back closer to $1310 strong horizontal support.

Later during the early NA session, the release of US monthly retail sales data, the key highlight from today's US economic docket, would now be looked upon for some meaningful impetus.

Technical levels to watch

Weakness below the $1310 level is likely to accelerate the fall back towards the very important 200-day SMA support, currently near the $1306 region, which if broken would expose the key $1300 round figure mark. 

On the flip side, the $1314-15 area now seems to act as an immediate resistance and is followed by $1319-20 supply zone, above which the metal is likely to aim back towards 100-day SMA hurdle near the $1326-27 region.