GBP/USD spikes to 6-week tops, eyeing a move beyond 1.3200 mark

The GBP/USD pair jumped to near six-week tops during the early European session, with bulls now looking to extend the momentum further beyond the 1.3200 round-figure mark.

Following a bullish weekly gap opening and a subsequent consolidation through the Asian session, the pair caught some fresh bids and added to last week's strong gains from YTD lows. A heavily offered tone surrounding the US dollar was seen as one of the key factors that provided a goodish lift to the major amid absent negative Brexit-related headlines.

Bulls seize near-term control

Given that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases has topped 107,000 across the world, growing market concerns that the outbreak would cause more economic disruption continued weighing on investors' sentiment. The worries were further compounded by a slump in crude oil prices and led to massive losses across the global equity markets on the first day of a new trading week.

This eventually forced investors to take refuge in the so-called safe-haven assets, which led to a fresh leg of a steep decline in the US Treasury bond yields. This coupled with firming market expectations that the Fed will deliver another 50 bps rate cut on March 18 aggravated the recent USD bearish pressure and continued driving the pair higher for the fifth consecutive session on Monday.

Monday's strong follow-through could further be attributed to some technical buying on a sustained break through a near three-month-old descending trend-line. A subsequent acceptance above the 1.3100 round-figure mark might have confirmed a near-term bullish breakout and further contributed to the pair's latest leg of a sudden upsurge over the past hour or so.

Technical levels to watch