Gold hangs near yearly lows, around $1290 level

   •  Consolidates in a range for the third straight session.
   •  Technically remains poised to extend the bearish fall. 

Gold continued with its struggled to register any meaningful recovery and remains within striking distance of YTD lows.

A continuous upsurge in the US Treasury bond yields supported the recent US Dollar upsurge and had been weighing on the non-yielding/dollar-denominated commodities - like gold in the recent past. Adding to this, signs of stability in global equity markets also did little to revive the precious metal's safe-haven demand. 

The yellow metal lacked any firm directional bias and has been consolidating within a narrow trading range over the past two trading session, amid near-term oversold conditions. The commodity's inability to attract any buying interest at lower levels clearly seems to suggest that the near-term bearish trajectory might still be far from over. 

Moreover, this week's bearish break below the very important 200-day SMA, a key indicator used for determining the overall long-term trend, further reinforces the bearish bias. Hence, any recovery attempts are likely to get sold into, with a follow-through weakness, led by some fresh technical selling, now looks a distinct possibility.

Nevertheless, the commodity remains on track for its fourth week of losses in the previous five and weekly close below $1300 mark for the first time since mid- December.

Technical levels to watch

The $1285 area might continue to protect the immediate downside, which if broken is likely to accelerate the downfall towards $1279-78 intermediate support en-route the $1267-66 region. On the upside, immediate resistance is pegged near the $1293-95 region, above which a bout of short-covering could lift the commodity beyond $1300 handle towards retesting 200-DMA, currently near the $1307 region.