• The prevalent USD bullish sentiment continues to weigh on the commodity.
• Tempered Fed rate cut bets further collaborates towards capping the upside.
• The range-bound price action might get extended amid absent economic data.

Gold struggled for a firm direction and remained confined in a narrow trading band, below $1425 level through the mid-European session on Monday.

The US Dollar stood tall near a two-month high and remained well supported by Friday's stronger-than-expected US GDP growth figures, which was eventually seen one of the key factors keeping a lid on any meaningful up-move for the dollar-denominated commodity.

Moreover, the latest GDP report further lowered chances of any aggressive interest rate cut move by the Fed and collaborated towards denting sentiment, albeit a pullback in the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the non-yielding yellow metal.

Meanwhile, a subdued action around equity markets, which tends to influence the precious metal's perceived safe-haven demand, did little to provide any impetus, rather led to a subdued/range-bound price action on the first day of a new trading week. 

It would now be interesting to see if the commodity is able to break through the mentioned trading range or continues with its consolidative price action as investors await the upcoming FOMC meeting on July 30-31 for a fresh directional impetus.

Technical levels to watch