• Awful headline NFP print prompts some immediate USD selling and provides a minor lift.
• Upbeat wage growth data/unemployment rate offset and helped limit USD downside.
• Brexit uncertainties continue to weigh on GBP and further collaborated towards capping.
The GBP/USD pair quickly recovered around 40-pips from two-week tops, albeit remained capped below the 1.3100 handle post-US monthly jobs report.
The US Dollar lost some additional ground following an awful headline NFP print, showing that the US economy added only 20K new jobs in February as compared to the previous month's upwardly revised figure of 311K. The reading was worse than 180K anticipated but was largely offset by a larger than expected fall in the unemployment rate and stronger wage growth data, which was evident from a subdued reaction in the US bond market.
Adding to this, renewed uncertainty over the UK's departure from the European Union, ahead of the fast-approaching deadline on March 29, held investors from buying the British Pound and further collaborated towards capping gains.
As Mario Blascak, FXStreet's own European Chief Analyst writes: “The Brexit re-negotiations are taking place in Brussels with the European Union said to make a new offer to the UK on Brexit backstop that is likely to fall short of the UK demands. With 21 days left before the UK is expected to officially depart from the European Union, the time is tight for any structural changes while the UK House of Commons is scheduled to vote on re-negotiated Brexit deal next Tuesday.”
With today's key US macro data out of the way, the incoming Brexit-related headlines might continue to act as an exclusive driver of the pair's momentum through the US session on the last trading day of the week.
Technical levels to watch
GBP/USD
Overview:
Today Last Price: 1.3074
Today Daily change %: 0.00%
Today Daily Open: 1.3074
Trends:
Daily SMA20: 1.3055
Daily SMA50: 1.2965
Daily SMA100: 1.2883
Daily SMA200: 1.2988
Levels:
Previous Daily High: 1.3187
Previous Daily Low: 1.3068
Previous Weekly High: 1.3351
Previous Weekly Low: 1.3051
Previous Monthly High: 1.3351
Previous Monthly Low: 1.2773
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%: 1.3113
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%: 1.3141
Daily Pivot Point S1: 1.3032
Daily Pivot Point S2: 1.2991
Daily Pivot Point S3: 1.2914
Daily Pivot Point R1: 1.3151
Daily Pivot Point R2: 1.3228
Daily Pivot Point R3: 1.3269
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