“¢ UK services PMI beat market expectations by a big margin and provides a minor lift.
“¢ The prevalent USD buying interest seems more likely to keep a lid on any runaway rally.
“¢ Carney’s testimony/ Barclay-Cox-Barnier meeting eyed for some meaningful impetus.
The GBP/USD pair reversed an early dip to mid-1.3100s, or one-week lows, and refreshed session tops post-UK services PMI.
The British Pound found some support at lower levels following the UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt’s comments, saying that the situation has improved in last month and signals from the EU are reasonably positive.
The uptick got an additional boost in wake of an unexpected rebound in the UK services PMI, which managed to avoid falling into contraction territory and came in at 51.3 for February as compared to 50.1 previous and 49.9 expected.
However, the prevalent US Dollar buying interest, supported by the recent upsurge in the US Treasury bond yields, turned out to be the only factor that might contribute towards keeping a lid on any strong follow-through.
Moreover, traders also seemed reluctant to place aggressive bets ahead of a scheduled meeting between UK Brexit Secretary Barclay, Attorney General Cox and the European Union’s Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
This coupled with the BoE Governor Mark Carney’s testimony on Brexit, inflation, and the economy before the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will further influence the pair’s price action on Tuesday.
In the meantime, the US economic docket, highlighting the release of ISM non-manufacturing PMI, might also be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities during the early North-American session.
Technical levels to watch
GBP/USD
Overview:
Today Last Price: 1.3168
Today Daily change %: -0.06%
Today Daily Open: 1.3176
Trends:
Daily SMA20: 1.3026
Daily SMA50: 1.2936
Daily SMA100: 1.2882
Daily SMA200: 1.299
Levels:
Previous Daily High: 1.3269
Previous Daily Low: 1.3166
Previous Weekly High: 1.3351
Previous Weekly Low: 1.3051
Previous Monthly High: 1.3351
Previous Monthly Low: 1.2773
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 1.3205
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 1.323
Daily Pivot Point S1: 1.3139
Daily Pivot Point S2: 1.3101
Daily Pivot Point S3: 1.3035
Daily Pivot Point R1: 1.3242
Daily Pivot Point R2: 1.3307
Daily Pivot Point R3: 1.3345