GBP/USD drops to session lows, risks breaking below 1.30 mark post-US retail sales

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The GBP/USD pair held on to its weaker tone and dropped to fresh session lows, around the key 1.30 psychological mark in reaction to the latest US macro data.

As investors looked past the latest UK political developments, the pair failed to capitalize on the previous session's strong intraday positive move of around 125 pips and started retreating from a resistance marked by 50-day SMA.

GBP/USD weighed down by a combination of factors

It is worth recalling that the pair on Thursday attracted some aggressive dip-buying after the UK government confirmed that Rishi Sunak, the current chief secretary to the Treasury, has been appointed as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Expectations that Sunak would be more likely to unveil a big-spending boost in next month’s Budget prompted investors to scale back their bets for an eventual interest rate cut by the Bank of England, which provided a strong boost to the sterling.

However, concerns that Britain might crash out of the European Union at the end of the transition period held investors from placing any fresh bullish bets. This coupled with the prevailing bullish sentiment surrounding the US dollar prompted some fresh selling.

The USD remained well supported by mostly in line US retail sales figures for January, which came bang in line with expectations and recorded a modest growth of 0.3%. Meanwhile, sales excluding automobiles (core retail sales) are matched expectations and rose 0.3%.

The readings were strong enough to largely offset a disappointment from the closely watched Retail Sales Control Group and did little to prompt any meaningful USD selling. Friday's US economic docket also features the release of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.

Technical levels to watch

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price1.3007
Today Daily Change-0.0041
Today Daily Change %-0.31
Today daily open1.3048

 

Trends
Daily SMA201.3024
Daily SMA501.3073
Daily SMA1001.2921
Daily SMA2001.2692

 

Levels
Previous Daily High1.307
Previous Daily Low1.2944
Previous Weekly High1.3184
Previous Weekly Low1.2882
Previous Monthly High1.3281
Previous Monthly Low1.2954
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%1.3022
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%1.2992
Daily Pivot Point S11.2972
Daily Pivot Point S21.2895
Daily Pivot Point S31.2846
Daily Pivot Point R11.3098
Daily Pivot Point R21.3147
Daily Pivot Point R31.3224