GBP/USD recovers early lost ground, flat-lined around mid-1.3500s amid modest USD pullback

GBP/USD attracted dip-buying on Friday and reversed a dip back closer to the weekly low.
Retreating US bond yields kept a lid on the USD gains and acted as a tailwind for the major.
Rising bets for a 50 bps Fed rate hike in March should underpin the USD and cap the upside.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The GBP/USD pair recovered its early lost ground and was last seen trading in the neutral territory, around mid-1.3500s.

The pair witnessed some selling during the first half of the trading on Friday and dropped to the lower end of its weekly trading range amid a strong follow-through US dollar buying. Expectations that the Fed will tighten its monetary policy at a faster pace to combat high inflation continued acting as a tailwind for the greenback and exerted pressure on the GBP/USD pair.

The red-hot US consumer inflation figures released on Thursday reinforced market bets for a 50 bps Fed rate hike move in March. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard added to market speculations and called for 100 bps rate hikes over the next three FOMC policy meetings. This, along with a generally weaker tone around the equity markets, underpinned the safe-haven greenback.

The GBP/USD pair had a rather muted reaction to the release of mixed UK macro data, which showed that the economy expanded by 1% during the fourth quarter of 2021 as against 1.1% anticipated. Separately, the UK Industrial/Manufacturing Production and a larger than estimated traded deficit did little to impress bullish traders or provide any impetus to the GBP/USD pair.

That said, retreating US Treasury bond yields capped gains for the greenback and once again assisted the GBP/USD pair to attract some buying ahead of the 1.3500 psychological mark. The said handle should act as a pivotal point for short-term traders, which if broken decisively will set the stage for an extension of the previous day's sharp pullback from a three-week high.

Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, featuring the release of the Prelim University of Michigan US Consumer Sentiment Index. This, along with the US bond yields and the broader market risk sentiment, will influence the USD price dynamics and produce some short-term trading opportunities around the GBP/USD pair.

Technical levels to watch

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.3551
Today Daily Change	-0.0003
Today Daily Change %	-0.02
Today daily open	1.3554

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.3537
Daily SMA50	1.3456
Daily SMA100	1.3506
Daily SMA200	1.3705

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.3644
Previous Daily Low	1.3523
Previous Weekly High	1.3628
Previous Weekly Low	1.3387
Previous Monthly High	1.3749
Previous Monthly Low	1.3358
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.3598
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.3569
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.3504
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.3453
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.3383
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.3624
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.3694
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.3745

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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