GBP/USD hangs near fresh YTD lows, BoE decision awaited

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• Overnight Brexit news-led optimism turns out to be short-lived.
• Persistent USD buying prompts some fresh selling on Thursday.
• Focus remains on the upcoming BoE monetary policy update.

Bearish pressure surrounding the British Pound remains unabated, with the GBP/USD pair sinking to fresh 7-month lows in the last hour.

Optimism over the UK PM Theresa May's win in the crucial Brexit bill vote in parliament turned out to be short-lived, with the pair retreating nearly 100-pips from overnight swing higher level of 1.3217.

Persistent US Dollar buying interest was seen as one of the key factors exerting some fresh downward pressure on the major through the early European session on Thursday.

This coupled with little expectations of any hawkish tone from the upcoming BoE monetary policy decision further dented the already weaker sentiment surrounding the British Pound and collaborated to the pair's downfall to its lowest level since mid-Nov. 2017.

It would now be interesting to see if bears continue dragging the pair lower or opt to lighten their positions ahead of today's key event risk - the latest BoE monetary policy update, due to be announced later today.

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through selling has the potential to continue dragging the pair further towards the 1.3100 handle en-route the next major support near the 1.3050-40 region (Nov. 2017 swing lows). On the upside, any recovery attempts back above 1.3170-75 area might now confront fresh supply near the 1.3200 handle, which if cleared could trigger a near-term short-covering bounce.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD remains on the back foot near 1.1750

EUR/USD is coming under renewed pressure, sliding towards multi-week lows in the mid-1.1700s on Thursday. The move lower reflects another strong session for the US Dollar, with the Greenback drawing fresh support from a batch of firm US data that reinforced its underlying bid.

GBP/USD drops further, hovers around 1.3460

GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3440 area, its lowest levels in around four weeks. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data, while a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes has added an extra layer of uncertainty around the Fed’s rate path, keeping Cable on the defensive.

Gold struggles to overcome $5,000

Gold is trading with humble gains on Thursday, hovering around the key $5,000 mark per troy ounce. The yellow metal remains underpinned by renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, even as a stronger US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields across the curve limit the upside and keep price action relatively contained.

Ripple slips toward $1.40 despite SG-FORGE tapping protocol for EUR CoinVertible

XRP extends its decline, nearing $1.40 support, as risk appetite fades in the broader market. SG-FORGE’s EUR CoinVertible launches on the XRP Ledger, leveraging the blockchain’s scalability, speed, security, and decentralization.

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Injective token surges over 13% following the approval of the mainnet upgrade proposal

Injective price rallies over 13% on Thursday after the network confirmed the approval of its IIP-619 proposal. The green light for the mainnet upgrade has boosted traders’ sentiment, as the upgrade aims to scale Injective’s real-time Ethereum Virtual Machine architecture and enhance its capabilities to support next-generation payments.