Gold slides back closer to over 1-month lows

   •  Fading safe-haven demand prompts some fresh selling on Monday.
   •  Technical studies suggest an extension of the near-term bearish slide.

Gold came under some fresh selling pressure at the start of a new trading week and has now moved back within striking distance of over 1-month lows, touched last week. 

Currently trading around $1318 area, eroding a major part of Friday's recovery bounce, the precious metal was being weighed down by fading safe-haven demand amid easing geopolitical tension in the Korean peninsula. 

Adding to this, the US Dollar profit-taking slide, from Friday’s multi-month highs, also seems to have stalled and was further seen collaborating towards denting demand for dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. 

Meanwhile, a subdued action around the US Treasury bond yields, which tends to derive demand for the non-yielding yellow metal, did little to influence the price action, with a global wave of risk-on mood and technical factors prompting some fresh selling on Monday. 

Looking at the broader picture, last week's break below 100-day SMA, coupled with the commodity's inability to register any meaningful recovery clearly seems to suggest that the near-term bearish trajectory might still be far from over. Hence, any rebound back above the $1320 region (100-day SMA), towards $1325 supply zone, might now be looked upon as an opportunity to initiate some fresh short positions.

Technical levels to watch

Sustained weakness below $1315 level might now turn the metal vulnerable to head towards testing the very important 200-day SMA support near the $1303 region with some intermediate support near $1308 area.

On the upside, any recovery attempts back above $1320 zone might continue to confront fresh supply near the $1325 region, which if cleared might trigger a short-covering bounce towards $1331-32 resistance.