GBP/USD slumps to weekly lows near 1.3050 as USD bulls wake up
- Labour party spokesman denies reports Brexit talks have stalled.
- The unemployment rate in the UK stays unchanged at 3.9% as expected.
- US Dollar Index climbs above 97 in the NA session.
After spending the first half of the day a little below the 1.31 mark, the GBP/USD pair came under a renewed selling pressure and touched its lowest level in a week at 1.3044. As of writing, the pair was down 0.35% on a daily basis at 1.3051.
Earlier in the day, several news outlets claimed that Brexit talks with the Labour party and the government had hit another stalemate to weigh on the British pound. Although the Labour party's spokesman didn't take long to deny these reports, the currency struggled to gain traction.
Meanwhile, today's data from the UK showed that the 3-month ILO unemployment report stayed unchanged at 3.9% in February. However, the claimant count change came in at 28.3K, worse than the market expectation of 20K.
In addition to the GBP's weakness, the greenback started to gather strength in the NA session and with the US Dollar Index rising above 97 after failing to do so on Monday and forced the pair to continue to push lower. Nevertheless, in the absence of fundamental drivers, the DXY's recent upsurge seems to be technical in nature, suggesting that it could have a difficult time gathering momentum.
On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index, Producer Price Index, and Retail Price Index from the UK will be looked upon for fresh impetus.
Technical levels to consider
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
