Gold trying to stabilize just above 5-week lows, US GDP in focus

   •  A mildly softer tone around US bond yields prompts some short-covering.
   •  Stronger USD/fading safe-haven demand likely to cap any strong recovery.

Gold now seems to have entered a bearish consolidation phase and was seen oscillating in a narrow trading range near 5-week lows, below 100-day SMA.

A strong wave of US Dollar buying interest, triggered by the recent upsurge in the US bond yields, was seen as one of the key factors weighing heavily on the dollar-denominated commodity over the past 1-1/2 week. 

This coupled with easing geopolitical tensions, and improving investors' appetite for riskier assets, further dented demand for traditional safe-haven assets and collaborated to the commodity's break below the 100-day SMA support on Thursday, for the first time since late December. 

Meanwhile, a mildly softer tone around the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the non-yielding yellow metal and prompted some short-covering from $1315 level on Friday. 

Investors also seemed inclined to lighten their bearish bets ahead of today's advance US Q1 GDP growth figures. The uptick, however, seemed lacking any strong follow-through, with yesterday's bearish break below an important moving average indicating some additional weakness in the near-term. 

Technical levels to watch

Any meaningful up-move beyond $1320 level is likely to confront fresh supply near the $1324-25 region, above which a fresh bout of short-covering could lift the commodity back above $1330 hurdle. On the flip side, bears would be eyeing for a break below $1315 immediate support, below which the metal seems vulnerable to slide further towards testing the key 200-day SMA support near the $1302-1300 region.