Gold slides to fresh session lows, below $1340 level

   •  Goodish pickup in the USD demand prompts fresh selling.
   •  Positive US bond yields add to the downward pressure. 
   •  Fading safe-haven demand does little to lend support.

Gold came under some renewed selling pressure on Thursday and eroded part of previous session's goodish recovery gains from over 1-week lows.

A more hawkish assessment of the latest FOMC policy update assisted the US Dollar to build on overnight recovery move and was eventually seen prompting fresh selling around dollar-denominated commodities - like gold.

The Fed signalled that it would stick to its plans for gradual monetary policy tightening path, on expectations that inflation should move up in coming months. The same was evident from a positive tone around the US Treasury bond yields, which was further seen weighing on the non-yielding yellow metal. 

Meanwhile, fading safe-haven demand, amid improving investors' appetite for riskier assets, also did little to lend any support to traditional safe-haven assets and stall the precious metal's downslide to sub-$1340 level. 

Traders now look forward to the US ISM manufacturing PMI for some short-term opportunities but the key focus would be on Friday's non-farm payrolls data (NFP), which would help determine the commodity's near-term trajectory. 

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through weakness below $1334 level is likely to accelerate the fall towards $1326 horizontal zone before the metal eventually drops to its next support near the $1320 region. On the upside, $1345 area now seems to act as an immediate hurdle, above which the commodity is likely to dart towards $1350 level en-route $1358 supply zone.