Gold climbs back closer to weekly tops, nearing $1300 mark

   •  Dovish FOMC minutes prompt some USD profit-taking and help regain positive traction.
   •  Sliding US bond yields/cautious mood provides an additional boost and remains supportive.

Gold edged higher for the second consecutive session on Thursday and built on overnight modest gains led by perceived dovish FOMC minutes. 

Minutes from the latest FOMC meeting supported June rate hike expectations but hinted to a gradual monetary policy tightening path going forward and tolerance to inflation overshoot for some time. 

The post-release US Dollar profit-taking, which continued through the early European session on Thursday, was seen underpinning demand for dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. Adding to this, the ongoing slide in the US Treasury bond yields further benefitted the non-yielding yellow metal and remained supportive of the uptick. 

Meanwhile, renewed worries around the US-China trade talks, coupled with uncertainty over a planned summit between the US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un dented investors’ appetite for riskier assets. The same was evident from the prevalent cautious mood across global equity markets, which was eventually seen providing some additional boost to the precious metal's safe-haven appeal. 

Today's US economic docket, featuring the second-tier releases of the usual initial weekly jobless claims and existing home sales data, along with speeches by influential FOMC members would now be looked upon for some fresh impetus.

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through buying interest has the potential to continue lifting the commodity even beyond the $1300 handle back towards testing the very important 200-day SMA support turned resistance near the $1307 region.

On the flip side, $1293-92 area now seems to protect the immediate downside, which if broken might turn the metal vulnerable to head back towards challenging the $1286-84 strong horizontal support.