GBP/USD plummets to lows, slides further below 1.30 handle

   “¢   Brexit/UK political developments continue to dent sentiment surrounding the British Pound.
   “¢   A modest USD uptick/technical selling adds to the pressure and accelerates the intraday slide.

The GBP/USD pair kept losing ground through the mid-European session and was now seen weakening further below the key 1.30 psychological mark.

The pair extended this week’s retracement slide from near three-week tops, levels just above the 1.3100 handle, and remained under some selling pressure for the third consecutive session on Friday. The fact that the European Union has clearly stated that they can’t provide legally binding changes to the backstop turned out to be one of the key factors exerting fresh downward pressure on the British Pound.

Adding to this, signs of a potential crack in the UK political framework, especially after the resignations from both the Labour and Tory parties, further dented the already weaker sentiment surrounding the Sterling. The latest leg of a downfall over the past couple of hours followed a report, via Bloomberg – citing a UK official that the vote on new Brexit deal is very unlikely next week.  

Meanwhile, possibilities of some fresh technical selling, on a sustained weakness below Asian session consolidative trading range support near the 1.3025 region. This coupled with a modest US Dollar uptick,  despite firming expectations that the Fed might refrain from raising interest rates further,  added to the selling bias and further aggravated the downward momentum.  

Hence, a follow-through weakness, towards testing its next support near the 1.2950-45 region, now looks a distinct possibility amid absent relevant market moving economic releases on the last trading day of the week.

Technical levels to watch