Gold hits fresh session tops, above $1257

   •  US tax bill hopes-led USD strength fizzles and provided a fresh boost.
   •  Traders ignore risk-on mood/renewed uptick in the US bond yields.

Gold caught some fresh bids near $1252 immediate horizontal support and jumped to session tops during the early European session on Monday.

The precious metal was initially weighed down by optimism over the long-awaited legislation to overhaul the US tax code. However, some renewed US Dollar weakness extended some support to the dollar-denominated commodity and helped regain traction. 

Meanwhile, a goodish pickup in the US Treasury bond yields did little to dampen a mildly positive sentiment surrounding the non-yielding metal. 

Moreover, the market seems to have largely negated the prevalent risk-on environment, which tends to weigh on the yellow metal's safe-haven appeal, with the USD price dynamics turning out to be an exclusive driver of the commodity's uptick at the start of a new trading week. 

In absence of any major market moving economic releases, broader market sentiment around the greenback would remain a key determinant of the commodity's move a the start of a new trading week. 

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would be eyeing for a strong follow-through momentum beyond $1260 level, above which the commodity is likely to aim towards testing the very important 200-day SMA hurdle near the $1268 region.

On the flip side, any meaningful retracement might continue to find support near $1252 level, which if broken could accelerate the fall back towards $1248-47 horizontal support en-route the $1242-41 region.