GBP/USD keeps red below 1.25 handle post US data, House vote awaited

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The GBP/USD pair had a muted reaction and maintained the bearish trading bias below the 1.25 psychological mark following the release of US durable goods order.

The pair remained stuck around 1.2480-90 band after the US durable goods orders recorded a monthly growth of 1.7% in February, down from 2% growth (revised higher from 1.8% reported earlier) recorded in the previous month but still much better-than consensus estimates pointing to 1.2%. Excluding transportation items, core durable goods orders recorded a growth of 0.5% m-o-m, slightly lower-than 0.6% expected but again better-than previous month’s 0.2%.

GMT	Event	Actual	Consensus	Previous
Friday, Mar 24
12:30	USD Durable Goods Orders	1.7%	1.2%	2.3% Revised from 1.8%
12:30	USD Durable Goods Orders ex Transportation	0.5%	0.6%	0.2% Revised from -0.2%

Mixed durable goods orders data did little to provide any immediate respite for the US Dollar bulls and the overall market reaction was largely muted as investors preferred eagerly await the coming House vote on the Republican health-care bill, expected to take place between 2 P.M. EDT and 4 P.M. EDT, i.e., 1800-2000GMT.

Technical outlook

Valeria Bednarik, Chief Analyst at FXStreet notes, "the pair topped at 1.2530 this Thursday, a few pips below a major Fibonacci resistance at 1.2540, the 23.6% retracement of the January rally."

"It would take an upward acceleration beyond the mentioned Fibonacci resistance to see the pair advancing further, with 1.2585 and 1.2620 as the next probable intraday targets. Below the mentioned daily low, the next support is 1.2425, the 38.2% retracement of the mentioned rally, with further declines below it favoring a steeper correction that can extend down to 1.2345, February low and the 50% retracement of the same rally" she added.

Sell 42%

Buy 58%

Avg Sell Price 1.2380

Avg Buy Price 1.2355

Liquidity Distribution

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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