GBP/USD: Bailey pushes the pound lower despite dollar weakness

GBP/USD has been under pressure after BoE Governor Bailey committed to further bond buys. Cable's weakness stands out as US retail sales missed estimates, Yohay Elam, an Analyst at FXStreet, reports.

Key quotes 

“Despite Britain's successful vaccination campaign, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that the bank is committed to buying bonds at an elevated pace and seemed somewhat cautious about the recovery. Sterling is suffering.”

“Another setback for the pound comes from the decision by several EU countries to suspend the rollout of AstraZeneca's vaccines – widely used in the UK. While Britain has yet to report issues with the jabs, the scare from across the Channel is somewhat hurting the pound.” 

“US retail sales figures may help the Fed lower expectations. Americans lowered their expenditure by 3% in February, worse than expected. However, it came on top of an upward revision for January and is blamed on the ‘deep freeze’ in the southern US.” 

“Some resistance awaits at around 1.3890, which is where the 50 and 200 SMAs converge. It is followed by 1.3950, which capped cable last week.”

“Support awaits at the daily low of 1.3805, followed by 1.3775, a low point in early March.”