Gold holds steady just below weekly tops, NFP awaited

   “¢   Easing USD bearish pressure/risk-on mood fails to provide fresh impetus.
   “¢   The latest US monthly jobs report might help determine the near-term trajectory.

Gold held steady through the early European session on Friday and was seen consolidating overnight strong upsurge to fresh weekly tops.  

After falling for three days in a row, the precious metal staged a solid rebound from three-week lows and was being supported by a sharp US Dollar retracement.  

A strong rally in the British Pound, triggered by the positive Brexit news, prompted some aggressive USD long-unwinding trade and was eventually seen benefitting the dollar-denominated commodity.

The USD selling pressure now seems to have eased, with the prevalent risk-on mood weighing on traditional safe-haven assets and failing to assist the precious metal to build on the overnight impressive rally.

Renewed optimism over a possible solution to the US-China trade tensions helped boost investors’ sentiment and the same was evident from the prevailing positive tone across global equity markets.  

Moving ahead, today’s key focus will be on the closely-watched US monthly jobs report, due later during the early North-American session, which might influence Fed rate hike expectations and eventually provide some a fresh directional impetus for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Technical levels to watch

Momentum beyond the $1236-37 region is likely to confront some resistance near the multi-month high level of $1243.45, above which the commodity is likely to aim towards testing the $1250-52 supply zone.

On the flip side, the $1230 level now seems to protect the immediate downside, which if broken could extend the slide further towards the $1225-24 region en-route $1220 area and the $1215 important support.