Gold consolidates in a range, just below $1500 mark

• The global flight to safety remained supportive of the overnight goodish move up.
• Signs of stability in equity markets/a modest USD rebound capped further gains.
• US ISM non-manufacturing PMI eyed for some impetus ahead of Friday’s NFP.

Gold was seen oscillating in a narrow trading band, just below the key $1500 psychological mark, and consolidated the overnight goodish move up to weekly tops.
 
Reviving worries about slowing global economic growth continued denting investors’ appetite for riskier assets on Wednesday. The same was evident from a selloff in the US equity markets, which provided a strong boost to traditional safe-haven status and assisted the precious metal to build on this week's goodish bounce from near two-month lows.

Downside seems limited amid global growth concerns

The global flight was further reinforced by the ongoing slump in the US Treasury bond yields to the lowest level since September 9. This coupled with growing odds of another interest rate cut by the Fed in October provided an additional boost to the non-yielding yellow metal and remained supportive of the overnight positive move.
 
Data released on Wednesday showed that the US private-sector employers created modest 135K jobs in September. The lacklustre report came after the US ISM manufacturing PMI on Tuesday registered its worst reading since June 2009 and forced investors to start pricing in a higher probability of a further policy easing by the Fed.
 
However, some initial signs of stability in the global financial markets and a modest US Dollar rebound kept a lid on any strong follow-through appreciating move for the dollar-denominated commodity - Gold. Meanwhile, the downside remained limited as investors refrained from placing any aggressive bets ahead of the US monthly jobs report on Friday.
 
Hence, the commodity seems more likely to extend its sideways consolidative price action, though Thursday's release of the US ISM non-manufacturing PMI might assist traders to grab some short-term opportunities later during the early North-American session.

Technical levels to watch