GBP/USD Defends Mild Gains as Poor UK Data Weighs
The GBP/USD pair
continues to consolidate gains below 1.41 handle over the last hours,
as markets digest the latest industrial figures from the UK economy.
GBP/USD reverses a spike to 1.4140
The
GBP/USD pair trades modestly flat at 1.4067, heading for retest of
daily lows reached at 1.4041. The cable jumped one big figure on
European open, although failed to sustain at higher levels and reversed
more than half of the steep rise following the release of poor UK
industrial and manufacturing production data.
The UK
manufacturing production dropped to -1.1% from 0.5% in March, while the
yearly print also decelerated to -1.8% from -0.3% previously. Moreover,
industrial production contracted to -0.3% from 0.2% m/m, with also
declining on annualized basis to -0.5% from 0.1%.
However, the
downside remains cushioned on the back of the ongoing rally in the oil
prices, which keeps the sentiment lifted on the European indices, with
the UK’s FTSE rising +0.70% so far this session.
Looking ahead,
all eyes remain on FOMC member Dudley’s speech scheduled later in the NY
session for fresh updates on the Fed monetary policy outlook. In the
meantime, the sentiment on the oil and global stock markets will
continue to drive the major.
GBP/USD Levels to consider
The
pair has an immediate resistance at 1.4100 (round number), above which
1.4132/40 (5-DMA/ daily high) would be tested. On the flip side, support
is seen at 1.4015/00 (daily S1/ round number) below that at 1.3972/12
(daily S2/ Mar 2 Low).
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)
