GBP/USD hangs near fresh YTD lows, BoE decision awaited

   “¢   Overnight Brexit news-led optimism turns out to be short-lived.
   “¢   Persistent USD buying prompts some fresh selling on Thursday.
   “¢   Focus remains on the upcoming BoE monetary policy update.

Bearish pressure surrounding the British Pound remains unabated, with the GBP/USD pair sinking to fresh 7-month lows in the last hour.

Optimism over the UK PM Theresa May’s win in the crucial Brexit bill vote in parliament turned out to be short-lived, with the pair retreating nearly 100-pips from overnight swing higher level of 1.3217.

Persistent US Dollar buying interest was seen as one of the key factors exerting some fresh downward pressure on the major through the early European session on Thursday.

This coupled with little expectations of any hawkish tone from the upcoming BoE monetary policy decision further dented the already weaker sentiment surrounding the British Pound and collaborated to the pair’s downfall to its lowest level since mid-Nov. 2017.

It would now be interesting to see if bears continue dragging the pair lower or opt to lighten their positions ahead of today’s key event risk – the latest BoE monetary policy update, due to be announced later today.  

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through selling has the potential to continue dragging the pair further towards the 1.3100 handle en-route the next major support near the 1.3050-40 region (Nov. 2017 swing lows). On the upside, any recovery attempts back above 1.3170-75 area might now confront fresh supply near the 1.3200 handle, which if cleared could trigger a near-term short-covering bounce.