Gold retreats farther from $1300 mark/6-week tops

   •  A modest USD recovery/pickup in the US bond yields weigh.
   •  Fedspeak/developments surrounding US tax bill in focus. 

Gold struggled to build on an early uptick back closer to previous session's 6-week tops and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range. 

On Monday, the precious metal rose to its highest level since mid-October but failed to conquer the $1300 psychological mark amid a goodish US Dollar rebound following the release of upbeat new home sales data. 

A follow-through USD recovery, supported by a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, continued exerting some pressure around dollar-denominated commodities - like gold through the early European session on Tuesday.

Investors now look forward to the Fed Chair Designate Jerome Powell's testimony, along with a meeting between the US President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans on the long-awaited tax reform bill for some short-term opportunities. 

In the meantime, the US CB consumer confidence index and speeches by influential FOMC members would also be looked upon for some impetus for the non-yielding commodity. 

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through retracement below $1290 level could get extended back towards 100-day SMA support near the $1284 region, which if broken is likely to accelerate the fall towards $1276-75 horizontal zone.

On the upside, the $1297-99 region now seems to have emerged as an immediate strong hurdle, above which the metal is likely to aim towards testing Oct. monthly highs resistance near $1306 level.