GBP/USD drops to fresh 2022 low, further below mid-1.3200s on upbeat NFP report

GBP/USD witnessed heavy selling for the second successive day amid a blowout USD rally.
The worsening situation in Ukraine, upbeat NFP report continued underpinning the USD.
Technical selling below the 1.3270 area aggravated the bearish pressure around the pair.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The GBP/USD pair continued lowing ground through the early North American session and weakened further below mid-1.3200s in reaction to an upbeat US monthly jobs report. The pair was last seen trading around the 1.3240-1.3235 region, down nearly 0.80% for the day.

The pair added to the overnight losses and continued falling for the second successive day on Friday amid a blowout US dollar rally, bolstered by the global flight to safety. The Russian attack on Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant - the largest of its kind in Europe - raised fears of an environmental catastrophe. This, in turn, unnerved investors and boosted demand for traditional safe-haven assets.

The stronger USD momentum got an additional boost from better-than-expected US employment details. In fact, the headline NFP showed that the US economy added 678K new jobs in February, smashing market expectations for 400K. In addition, the previous month's reading was revised higher to 481K from 467K reported earlier. Moreover, the unemployment rate fell more than anticipated, to 3.8% from 4.0% in January.

The greenback shot to its highest level since May 2020 and was seen as a key factor that dragged the GBP/USD pair lower. Apart from this, the ongoing downward trajectory could further be attributed to some technical selling below the 1.3270 support zone. This now seems to have set the stage for a further near-term depreciating move amid the worsening situation in Ukraine.

Technical levels to watch

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.3264
Today Daily Change	-0.0075
Today Daily Change %	-0.56
Today daily open	1.3339

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.3507
Daily SMA50	1.3526
Daily SMA100	1.3491
Daily SMA200	1.3658

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.3418
Previous Daily Low	1.3318
Previous Weekly High	1.3638
Previous Weekly Low	1.3273
Previous Monthly High	1.3644
Previous Monthly Low	1.3273
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.3356
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.338
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.3298
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.3258
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.3198
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.3399
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.3459
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.3499

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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