Gold edges lower but hold near 7-month tops as UK election, ECB and Comey's testimony loom

Gold seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses and held within previous session's trading range as investors look forward to a trio of important event risks for some fresh impetus. 

Spot prices consolidated within a narrow trading band, just below seven-month highs touched on Tuesday, ahead of key political and economic events - UK election, European Central Bank policy meeting and former US FBI director James Comey's Senate testimony.

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Thursday's events have the potential to trigger a fresh boost of volatility across global financial markets and hence, remained supportive for the precious metal's safe-haven appeal. 

However, growing expectations for an eventual Fed rate-hike action on June 14 has held investors back from aggressively buying the non-yielding yellow metal. 

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Meanwhile, Comey's testimony, as part of a probe into Russia's involvement in the 2016 US Presidential election, would drive sentiment surrounding the US Dollar and should also contributed towards providing fresh impetus for dollar-denominated commodities, including gold.

Hence, investors preferred to stay on the sidelines and refrain from initiating any large bets, leading to a subdued/range-bound price action around the commodity.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near $1282-80 region, below which the metal is likely to accelerate the slide towards $1270-69 strong horizontal support with some intermediate support near $1275 level.

Alternatively, on a sustained move above $1289-90 zone, the commodity is likely to make a fresh attempt toward reclaiming the $1300 psychological mark before heading towards $1306-07 resistance area.