Gold hovers near 1-year high on rising N. Korean tensions

Gold edged higher on Tuesday and held closer to its highest level in nearly a year amid continuous deterioration in global risk appetite. 

North Korea's most powerful nuclear test over the weekend and news of a possible another launch of ICBM-grade rocket before Saturday forced investors seek refuge in traditional safe-haven assets and underpinned the precious metal. 

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The prevalent risk-off environment is further reinforced by a sharp slide in the US Treasury bond yields and was also seen benefitting the non-yielding metal. 

Meanwhile, the North Korean crisis has also kept the US Dollar on the back-foot and further collaborated to the positive sentiment surrounding the yellow metal. A weaker greenback tends to boost demand for dollar-denominated commodities - like gold. 

In absence of any major market moving economic releases from the US, a strong follow through bullish trajectory, amid global flight to safety, now seems a distinct possibility.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near $1332 level, below which the metal is likely to accelerate the corrective slide towards $1325 intermediate support en-route $1318 level. 

On the upside, the $1338-40 region seems to have emerged as immediate resistance, which if cleared could lift the commodity towards $1351 level ahead of its next major hurdle near $1357 area.