Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD steady around 1.30 handle as attention stays with coronavirus

FXStreet Team FXStreet

GBP/USD steady around 1.30 handle as attention stays with coronavirus

GBP/USD has held its own in the face of dollar weakness with the DXY falling back below the 99 handle on Tuesday. The coronavirus is taking up the headlines until the UK and EU trade negotiations and UK budget will take the spotlight next month. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading at 1.2995 between 1.2989 and 1.3005 in Tokyo's opening hour on Wednesday.

The markets are hugely distracted from the matter at hand with respect to Brexit, with media headlines taking a rain check from reporting on the matter ahead of the formal negotiation between the EU and UK kick off in March. The coronavirus has taken up the spotlight with the spread of the virus hitting all corners of the world.

GBP/USD Forecast: Next round of sellers aligned around 1.3060

The GBP/USD pair reached a daily high of 1.3017 on the back of the dollar’s weakness and despite soft UK figures. The February UK CBI Distributive Trade Survey on realized sales showed a modest 1.0% increase against the 4.0% expected. The report showed that sales remained flat and orders fell in the year to February, although there has been an improvement in investment plans when compared to the previous quarter.

The EU released the Political Declaration, a document set to be the base of the upcoming trade relationship with the UK. The kingdom will release its declaration next Thursday, although Downing Street responded to the EU, claiming that the UK deserves the same respect to autonomy as other major economies such as Canada and Japan, and mentioned that the EU doesn’t demand a level playing field when dealing with the US. The UK won’t release macroeconomic figures this Wednesday.

EUR/USD weakens toward 1.1600 as firm US data revives the US Dollar

The EUR/USD edged lower on Thursday, down some 0.21% as market sentiment remains risk averse due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This and solid US economic data pushed the pair lower towards the 1.1600 figure ahead of Friday’s session.

GBP/USD drifts lower heading into NFP range

GBP/USD edged lower by 0.2% on Thursday, settling close to 1.3350 in a strained trading session that kept the pair pinned near three-month lows. Price briefly recovered earlier in the day on reports that Iran had indirectly signaled openness to talks with the CIA, but the bounce faded as Israeli officials reportedly advised Washington to disregard the overture.

Gold slumps below $5,100 as US Dollar gains

Gold price tumbles to near $5,085 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal loses ground amid a stronger US Dollar. The US employment report for February will take center stage later on Friday.

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