Gold rises above $1,530 as US T-bond yields push lower

• 10-year US T-bond yield edges lower, loses more than 2.5%.
• Upbeat consumer confidence data helps Greenback gain traction.
• US Dollar Index retraces today’s fall, turns flat above 98.

The troy ounce of the precious metal rose to its highest level in more than six years at $1,555 on Monday but erased its gains in the second half of the day as rising hopes of sides working to resolve the protracted  US-China trade conflict through “calm” negotiations allowed risk-on flows to take control of the market action.

Market sentiment continues to impact gold prices

After finishing the first day of the week at $1,528, however, the XAU/USD pair gained traction on Tuesday as the US Treasury bond yields struggled to build on Monday’s gains with the 10-year reference erasing more than 2.5% on the day and allowed traditional safe-havens to find demand. As of writing, the pair was trading at $1,533.86, adding 0.42% on the day.

Although there were no fresh developments surrounding the trade war, investors seem to be refraining from making larget bets before seeing solid progress. In the meantime, after starting the day in the positive territory on Tuesday, major equity indexes are struggling to push higher to reflect investors’ indecisiveness.

On the other hand, the Conference Board’s monthly data showed that consumer confidence in August remained healthy in the United States with the headline Consumer Confidence Index arriving at 135.1 to surpass the market expectation of 129.5. The upbeat data helped the Greenback gather strength against its major peers and lifted the US Dollar Index back above the 98 handle, keeping the pair’s upside capped for the time being.

Technical levels to watch for