GBP/USD: Intraday positive move falters ahead of 1.30 mark

The GBP/USD pair quickly retreated around 30 pips from daily tops, albeit has still managed to hold with modest gains above mid-1.2900s.

The pair built on the previous session's rebound from sub-1.2900 levels and caught some fresh bids during the early European session on Tuesday amid the ongoing US dollar pullback from multi-year tops.

Brexit uncertainties capped the upside

The USD bulls remained on the defensive for the third consecutive session on the back of renewed speculations that the Fed could cut interest rates to offset any negative impact from the coronavirus pandemic.

This coupled with an intraday turnaround in the US Treasury bond yields, with yields on the benchmark 10-year bond falling to multi-year lows, further undermined the USD demand and remained support.

The pair jumped to near one-week tops, albeit the uptick lacked any strong follow-through and ran out of the steam just ahead of the key 1.30 psychological mark on the back of concerns over a no-deal Brexit.

Meanwhile, the European Union published its mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks, which emphasized on the need for a 'level playing field' and the need for the UK to be more aligned to current EU rules.

Given that the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already ruled out the possibilities and emphasized the need for UK sovereignty, the latest development did little to impress or provide any meaningful impetus.

Moving ahead, market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the release of the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, in order to grab some short-term opportunities.

Technical levels to watch