Gold trades with modest losses, shrugging off prevailing risk-off mood

   •  Fails to attract any safe-haven flows despite escalating US-China trade tensions.
   •  Sliding US bond yields/subdued USD demand also does little to lend any support.

Gold edged lower at the start of a new trading week and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range, just above the $1280 level.

Despite the latest escalation in the US-China trade tensions, the precious metal failed to attract any strong safe-haven flows and continued with its struggle to move back above the key $1300 psychological mark. 

Souring global risk sentiment was evident from the ongoing slump in the US Treasury bond yields, albeit did little to lend any support or assist the non-yielding yellow metal to regain any positive traction on Monday. 

Meanwhile, the US Dollar languished near three-week lows touched in reaction to Friday’s softer US consumer inflation figures, but again failed to inspire the bulls and provide any lift to the dollar-denominated commodity.

Investors' reluctance to place any fresh bullish bets clearly reflects persistent selling bias at higher levels and hence, a follow-through weakness, amid absent relevant US economic releases, now looks a distinct possibility.

Technical levels to watch

Any subsequent slide below the $1280 horizontal zone could get extended towards the $1276-75 support area en-route early May daily closing lows, around the $1271-70 region. On the flip side, the $1288-90 area now seems to have emerged as an immediate strong resistance, above which the commodity is likely to aim towards conquering the $1300 round figure mark.