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The GBP/USD pair comes under intense selling pressure on Friday and extends the overnight retracement slide from the vicinity of mid-1.2300s, or its highest level since February. Spot prices, however, manage to rebound a few pips from the daily low and trade above the 1.2200 mark during the early North American session, still down nearly 0.60% for the day.
A fresh wave of the global risk-aversion trade – amid lingering concerns about a full-blown banking crisis – assists the safe-haven US Dollar (USD) to build on the previous day’s solid bounce from a seven-week low. Apart from this, the weaker-than-expected release of UK PMI prints for March weighs on the British Pound and further contributes to the heavily offered tone surrounding the GBP/USD pair.
The Fed’s hints of a pause to interest rate hikes, along with the anti-risk flow, lead to a further steep decline in the US Treasury bond yields. Furthermore, the disappointing US Durable Goods Orders act as a headwind for the USD and lend some support to the GBP/USD pair. Spot prices showed some resilience below the 1.2200 resistance-turned-support.
On the flip side, any meaningful recovery now seems to confront an immediate hurdle near the 1.2270-1.2275 region. A sustained move beyond has the potential to push the GBP/USD pair back above the 1.2300 round figure, towards resting the multi-week high, around the 1.2340-1.2345 region touched on Thursday. Bulls might then aim to reclaim the 1.2400 mark and the YTD peak around the 1.2445-1.2450 zone.
