Gold up little, around $1277

   •  Fails to extend early up-move beyond 100-DMA. 
   •  Sliding US bond yields/risk-off environment supportive. 
   •  This week’s key events/US macro data holds the key.

Gold held on to its modest daily gains through the early NA session but struggled to gain any follow through traction beyond 100-day SMA.

Currently hovering around $1278-77 area, off session tops touched in the past hour, a fresh wave of global risk aversion trade benefitted the precious metal's safe-haven demand at the start of a busy week. The global flight to safety was further reinforced by a sharp retracement in the US Treasury bond yields and remained supportive of a modest pickup in demand for the non-yielding commodity. 

However, resurgent US Dollar, which tends to drive flows away from dollar-denominated commodities - like gold, kept a lid further up-move. Moreover, investors also seemed to refrain from placing aggressive bet ahead of this week's key US economic report.

This week's important US macro data includes the release of latest inflation figures and monthly retail sales data, which along with the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech on Tuesday would be looked upon for fresh clues over the Fed's near-term monetary policy outlook. 

Apart from the monetary policy trajectory, market participants will also keep a close eye and take cues from any new developments surrounding the Trump administration’s tax legislation. 

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near the $1273 region, below which the commodity is likely to accelerate the slide towards $1269 horizontal level before eventually dropping to $1260 support.

On the upside, any further up-move is likely to confront fresh supply near the $1281-82 region, which if cleared could lift the metal back towards $1288 (multi-week tops) en-route $1295 hurdle.