GBP/USD holds weaker below mid-1.2800s post-UK jobs data

• The incoming UK political headlines exerted some downward pressure.
• A goodish pickup in the USD demand further adds to the selling bias.
• Mixed UK employment details did little to provide any fresh impetus.

The GBP/USD pair held on to its weaker tone, around the 1.2830-35 region and had a rather muted reaction to the latest UK employment details.
 
Having failed just ahead of the 1.2900 handle in the previous session, the pair witnessed some fresh selling on Tuesday in reaction to the Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s comments that they will not be offering any more help to the Conservatives.
 
This comes after Farage on Monday committed that his party will not challenge any of the 317 seats currently held by the Conservatives. However, the fact that the latest development does little to reduce odds of a hung parliament exerted some downward pressure on the British Pound.
 
This coupled with some renewed US Dollar buying interest, despite a mildly weaker tone surrounding the US Treasury bond yields and the latest US-China trade uncertainty, further collaborated to the pair’s slide back closer to the overnight resistance breakpoint.
 
On the economic data front, the monthly UK jobs report came in to show that the unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked lower to 3.8% during the three months to September. The positive reading, to a larger extent, was offset by softer wage growth figures and larger-than-expected rise in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits and thus, did little to provide any meaningful impetus.

Technical levels to watch