Gold slips to session low, below $1420 ahead of US data

Gold finally broke down of its late Asian/early European session consolidation phase and refreshed session lows, below the $1420 level in the last hour.

The precious metal failed to capitalize on its gains back closer to multi-year tops, with a combination of negative forces once again capping the positive momentum ahead of the $1440 region. Improving global risk sentiment, as depicted by a positive mood around equity markets, turned out to be one of the key factors that dented the precious metal's safe-haven status and prompted some fresh selling at higher levels.

This coupled with a modest US Dollar rebound exerted some additional downward pressure on the dollar-denominated commodity. However, persistent global trade worries - especially after the US threatened to impose tariffs on $4 billion, coupled with the ongoing downfall in the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the non-yielding yellow metal and helped limit deeper losses, at least for the time being.

Moving ahead, Wednesday's US economic docket - featuring the releases of ADP report on private-sector employment and ISM non-manufacturing PMI, will now be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities. The key focus, however, will remain on Friday's official US monthly jobs report (NFP), which will play an important role in determining the commodity's next leg of a directional move.

Technical levels to watch