• Gold price struggles to capitalize on the overnight gains and oscillates in a range on Thursday.
• The uncertainty over the Fed’s rate-cut path is seen as a key factor capping the precious metal.
• Subdued USD demand and geopolitical tensions continue to act as a tailwind for the XAU/USD.

Gold price (XAU/USD) regained positive traction on Wednesday and reversed a major part of the previous day's corrective fall from the vicinity of a record peak touched last week. Despite a hot US inflation print, investors still expect the Federal Reserve (Fed) to start cutting interest rates at the June policy meeting. This, in turn, prompted some US Dollar (USD) selling, which, along with escalating geopolitical tensions, provided a goodish lift to the safe-haven precious metal.

The downside for the USD, however, remains limited as investors seek more clarity about the Fed's rate-cut path before placing fresh directional bets. This, in turn, keeps the US Treasury bond yields elevated and fails to assist the non-yielding Gold price to capitalize on the overnight positive move, leading to a subdued range-bound price action during the Asian session on Thursday. This, in turn, warrants some caution before positioning for the resumption of the recent uptrend.

Traders also seem reluctant and might prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of the two-day FOMC monetary policy meeting starting next Tuesday. In the meantime, Thursday's US macro data – monthly Retail Sales, the Producer Price Index (PPI) and the usual Weekly Initial Jobless Claims – might influence the USD price dynamics. This, along with the US bond yields and the broader risk sentiment, might contribute to producing short-term trading opportunities around the Gold price.