Gold ticks lower but downside remains limited

   •  US-China trade optimism dampens the commodity’s safe-haven demand.
   •  The ongoing USD slide/fading Fed rate hike expectations help limit downside.

Gold prices edged lower on Thursday but remained well within a narrow trading band, held over the past three sessions.

Signs of easing US-China trade tensions continued denting the precious metal's safe-haven status, though the negative factor was partly negated by a weaker tone around the European equities. 

Meanwhile, the US Dollar extended its retracement from near one-month tops and was seen extending some support to the dollar-denominated commodity.

Adding to this, fading expectations for further Fed interest rate hikes in 2019 might continue to underpin the non-yielding yellow metal and further collaborate towards limiting any meaningful slide.

Hence, the price action since the beginning of this week might still be categorized as a consolidation phase ahead of the next big catalyst - the latest FOMC monetary policy update, scheduled to be announced next Wednesday.

Technical levels to watch