Gold trades with modest losses, just below $1530 level

• Positive trade-related developments exerted some pressure on traditional safe-haven assets.
• Recovering US bond yields underpinned the USD and further collaborated to the weaker tone.
• The downside seems limited amid escalating geopolitical tensions, global growth concerns.

Gold traded with a mild negative bias through the early European session on Wednesday, albeit remained well within the striking distance of near three-week tops set in the previous session.
 
On Tuesday, the safe-haven gold quickly reversed an early dip to the $1515 region and turned higher for the fourth consecutive session in reaction to reports that an impeachment inquiry will be started against the US President Donald Trump. The intraday uptick got an additional boost following Trump's angry rhetoric on China during a United Nations speech, criticizing that the dragon nation hasn't adopted the promised reforms.

Renewed trade optimism exerts some pressure

However, concerns about worsening trade relations between the world's two largest economies eased a bit on Wednesday following reports that China is planning to buy more US farm products as a goodwill gesture ahead of the upcoming high-level trade talks in early-October. The latest positive development helped improve the global risk sentiment and eventually weighed on the precious metal's safe-haven status.
 
Fading safe-haven demand was further reinforced by a goodish pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, which extended some support to the US Dollar and further collaborated towards exerting some pressure on the dollar-denominated - Gold. The downside seemed limited, at least for the time being, amid concerns about a further escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and health of the global economy.
 
Moving ahead, there isn't any major market-moving US economic data due for release on Wednesday and hence, traders are likely to take cues from scheduled speeches by influential FOMC members - Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Kansas City Fed President Esther George - in order to grab some short-term opportunities.

Technical levels to watch