Gold edges higher, but remains below 100-DMA

Gold held tepid recovery gains through early European session and is currently placed at session tops near $1222-23 area.

A modest greenback retracement, with the key US Dollar Index slipping below mid-99.00s, provided some lift to dollar-denominated commodities and helped the precious metal to reverse previous session's losses. Moreover, retracing US treasury bond yields were also seen lending some support and pulled the commodity away from two-month lows, touched earlier this week.

Despite of the minor bounce back, the yellow metal remained below 100-day SMA as investors continue to price-in an eventual Fed rate-hike action at its June meeting. Higher interest rate in the US dents demand and makes investment in the non-yielding metal less attractive. 

Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a follow through buying interest, resulting into some meaningful recovery, before confirming that the metal could have bottomed out in the near-term.

Later during the NA session, the US economic data that includes - PPI print and weekly jobless claims, would now be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would be eyeing for a sustained recovery beyond $1225 region (100-day SMA), above which a fresh bout of short-covering could lift the commodity towards its next important hurdle near $1240-42 region, with some intermediate resistance near $1229-30 area and $1236 level.

On the flip side, a follow through selling pressure below multi-month lows support near $1217-15 region now seems to pave way for continuation of the metal's near-term downward trajectory towards $1210 intermediate support en-route $1205 strong horizontal support.