GBP/USD Review: Oscillates in a range, just above 1.2700 handle

   •  Brexit uncertainties keep the GBP bulls on the defensive. 
   •  Safe-haven flows prompt some fresh selling in the past hour. 

The GBP/USD pair extended its retracement slide from an intraday high level of 1.2749 and refreshed session low in the last hour, albeit quickly recovered few pips thereafter. 

A modest US Dollar profit-taking slide did provide a minor lift earlier today, albeit Brexit uncertainties kept the GBP bulls on the defensive and thus, failed to assist the pair to register any meaningful up-move. 

Meanwhile, a sudden fall in the Turkish Lira, now down around 8% to 6.30 against the USD, triggered fresh jitters across European markets. The Lira's vulnerability benefitted the greenback safe-haven appeal against its British counterpart and further collaborated to the pair's latest leg of decline over the past hour or so.

The downfall now seems to have stalled, at least for the time being, as investors preferred to wait on the sideline and refrained from placing aggressive bets ahead of the UK government's no-deal Brexit plan, expected to be unveiled today. 

In absence of any major market moving economic releases, any fresh Brexit news/headlines and the broader market risk sentiment might continue to act as key determinants of the pair's momentum on the last trading day of the week. 

Technical Analysis

A short-term descending trend-line has been capping any attempted recovery move since the beginning of this month. Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a convincing break through the mentioned barrier before positioning for any further near-term recovery. 

Meanwhile, the downside remains support near the 1.2690 region, which if broken would further reinforce the trend-line hurdle and pave the way for the resumption of the pair’s prior well-established bearish trend.