Gold steadily climbs back to $1800 mark

• Worsening US-China relations, surging COVID-19 cases assisted gold to regain traction on Friday.
• Optimism over a COVID-19 vaccine underpinned the risk sentiment and might cap further gains.

Gold edged higher through the early European session and steadily climbed back to the $1800 mark, recovering a part of the previous day's losses.

Concerns about the ever-increasing coronavirus cases and worsening US-China relations underpinned the precious metal's perceived safe-haven demand. This coupled with a subdued US dollar price action extended some additional support to the dollar-denominated commodity.

However, optimism over a potential COVID-19 vaccine helped revive investors' appetite for riskier assets. The risk-on flow was reinforced by a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, which might keep a lid on any strong gains for the non-yielding yellow metal.

Hence, any subsequent strength is more likely to confront a stiff resistance near the $1810 supply zone. This makes it prudent to wait for some strong follow-through buying before traders start positioning for a further near-term appreciating move for the commodity.

Friday's US economic docket features the release of housing market data and Prelim Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. The data might influence the USD price dynamics, which along with the market risk sentiment might produce some short-term trading opportunities on the last day of the week.

Technical levels to watch