• Gold price drifts lower on Monday amid hopes that the Iran-Israel conflict will not escalate further.
• Reduced Fed rate cut bets are keeping the US bond yields elevated and also exert pressure on the metal.
• The fundamental backdrop warrants caution before positioning for any further depreciating move.

Gold price (XAU/USD) kicks off the new week on a weaker note and, for now, seems to have snapped a two-day winning streak, though it remains confined in a familiar trading range held over the past week or so. Hopes for an Iran-Israel conflict de-escalation boost investors' confidence and turn out to be a key factor driving flows away from the safe-haven precious metal. Apart from this, bets that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will keep interest rates higher for longer in the wake of still sticky inflation in the US exert additional pressure on the non-yielding commodity. 

The downside for the Gold price, however, seems cushioned amid speculations that major central banks will cut interest rates this year. Adding to this, worsening global economic conditions should contribute to limiting any meaningful depreciating move for the XAU/USD. Traders also seem reluctant and prefer to wait on the sidelines ahead of this week's release of flash global PMIs on Tuesday and important US macro data – the Advance Q1 GDP report and the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index on Thursday and Friday, respectively.