GBP/USD extends slide toward 1.29 on broad-based USD strength

• US Dollar Index advances above 96.20 area in the NA session.
• US 10-year T-bond yield advances to multi-week highs on Friday.
• Disappointing data from the UK weighs on the GBP.

The GBP/USD came under a renewed selling pressure in the NA session and slumped to a fresh session low of 1.2899. As of writing, the pair was trading at 1.2919, losing 0.53% on a daily basis.

Earlier today, the disappointing retail sales data, which showed a monthly decline of 0.9% in December, weighed on the British pound and forced its to erase the majority of the gains that it recorded in the last couple of days.  

In the second half of the day, the greenback started to gather strength against its rivals despite mixed macroeconomic data releases and forced the pair to continue to push lower. Today’s data from the U.S. showed that industrial production increased more than expected in December but the UoM’s Consumer Confidence Index slumped to its lowest level since Donald Trump took the office at 90.7. Despite this data, a sharp increase witnessed in the U.S. T-bond yields helped the greenback preserve its momentum. As of writing, the DXY was up 0.17% on the day at 96.25 and the 10-year T-bond yield was at its highest level since late December at 2.772%, adding 0.9% on the day.

There won’t be any other macroeconomic data releases from the U.S. in the remainder of the day. On the other hand, British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to hold meetings with the cabinet ministers to discuss Brexit.

Technical levels to consider