“¢ Resurgent USD demand prompts some aggressive selling at higher levels.
“¢ Bullish traders shrug off upbeat UK PMI/Hunt’s positive Brexit comments.
The GBP/USD pair extended its sharp intraday slide and is currently placed at the lower end of its daily trading range, just above mid-1.2600s.
After an initial uptick to 1.2775 area, the pair witnessed a sudden turnaround in sentiment on the first trading day of the New Year and has now lost over 110-pips from session tops amid a goodish pickup in the US Dollar demand.
Despite expectations of a dovish Fed in 2019 and the partial US government shutdown, the greenback regained positive traction and was seen as one of the key factors behind the pair’s follow-through retracement from 3-1/2 week tops, levels beyond the 1.2800 handle, set on Monday.
Bearish traders even shrugged off today’s upbeat UK manufacturing PMI, coming in at a six-month high level of 54.2 in December, with the USD price dynamics turning out to be an exclusive driver of the pair’s momentum through the mid-European trading session.
Even some positive comments by the UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, saying that the UK PM Theresa May will find a way to get Brexit deal through Parliament, did little to ease the bearish pressure or stall the ongoing slide.
Hence, a follow-through weakness, ahead of the Parliament debate on the May’s Brexit agreement, set to resume in the week of January 7, and the meaningful vote planned to be held before January 21, now looks a distinct possibility.
Technical levels to watch
GBP/USD
Overview:
Today Last Price: 1.2665
Today Daily change: -95 pips
Today Daily change %: -0.745%
Today Daily Open: 1.276
Trends:
Previous Daily SMA20: 1.2664
Previous Daily SMA50: 1.2784
Previous Daily SMA100: 1.2899
Previous Daily SMA200: 1.3178
Levels:
Previous Daily High: 1.2765
Previous Daily Low: 1.2705
Previous Weekly High: 1.2778
Previous Weekly Low: 1.2616
Previous Monthly High: 1.284
Previous Monthly Low: 1.2477
Previous Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 1.2742
Previous Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 1.2728
Previous Daily Pivot Point S1: 1.2722
Previous Daily Pivot Point S2: 1.2683
Previous Daily Pivot Point S3: 1.2662
Previous Daily Pivot Point R1: 1.2782
Previous Daily Pivot Point R2: 1.2803
Previous Daily Pivot Point R3: 1.2842