Gold trades with modest losses, around $1290 level amid US-China trade optimism

   •  The risk-on mood continues to dent the commodity’s perceived safe-haven status.
   •  Steady USD fails to lend any support; dovish Fed expectations to limit downside.

Gold prices slipped for the second consecutive session, albeit remained well within a broader trading range held over the past one week or so.

A report that the US is considering easing tariffs on Chinese products boosted investors' appetite for riskier assets and triggered a later rally in the US equity markets. This coupled with the market stance of a diminishing hard Brexit risk further dented the precious metal's relative safe-haven status. 

Meanwhile, the US Dollar remained support by Thursday's upbeat US economic data - initial jobless claims and Philly Fed manufacturing index and did little to lend any support to the dollar-denominated commodity. However, dovish Fed expectations might continue to limit the downside for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Summing it all, the combination of diverging forces might fail to provide any meaningful directional impetus amid absent relevant market moving economic releases, with any attempted up-move seems more likely to remain capped ahead of the key $1300 psychological mark in the near-term.

Technical levels to watch