GBP/USD bounces off lows, still in the red just above 1.2300 level

The GBP/USD pair showed some resilience around the 1.2300 mark and quickly recovered around 40-45 pips in the last hour, albeit lacked any strong follow-through.

The pair extended the overnight retracement slide from levels beyond the 1.2400 mark and remained under some selling pressure through the early part of Friday's trading action.

The US dollar regained some positive traction and climbed to 2-1/2 week high amid the latest pessimism over the inconclusive results from the Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug trial.

This comes on the back of expectations that the world economy will remain weak for some time, which weighed on investors' sentiment and benefitted the USD's safe-haven status.

The British pound was further pressured by Friday's disappointing UK retail sales figures for March, which illustrated the economic damage caused by coronavirus-induced lockdowns.

Meanwhile, a turnaround in the global risk sentiment, as depicted by a push higher in the US equity futures, extended some support and prompted some intraday short-covering move.

However, the uncertainty over the severity of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic kept a lid on any further gains, instead prompted some fresh selling at higher levels.

From a technical perspective, bears are likely to wait for a sustained break through the 1.2300 round-figure mark before positioning for any further near-term depreciating move.

Market participants now look forward to the release of the US Durable Goods Orders data for March in order to grab some short-term momentum play on the last trading day of the week.

Technical levels to watch