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GBP / USD updates daily highs on disappointing NFP data, struggles to find acceptance above 1.3300

  • GBP / USD drew some buying at the dips near 1.3250 and soared to fresh daily highs in the last hour.
  • The disappointing NFP figure in the headlines sparked some USD selling and provided a modest rise to the pair.
  • Brexit uncertainties and aggressive expectations by the Fed helped limit the USD’s losses and limited the rise.

The pair GBP/USD It soared to a new daily high in reaction to lousy US employment data, though it struggled to capitalize on the move or find acceptance above 1.3300.

Having fallen to a three-day low earlier this Friday, the GBP / USD drew some buying at the dips near 1.3250 and received an additional boost during the early days of the American session. The latest stretch of a sudden rebound over the last hour or so followed the release of the NFP report, which showed that the US created some 210,000 jobs in November. This largely disappointed consensus estimates that pointed to a reading of 550,000 and well below the prior month’s revised upward reading of 546,000.

Additional details revealed that average hourly earnings disappointed market expectations and led to modest US dollar weakness, which in turn provided a good boost to the GBP / USD pair. However, the disappointment, to a greater extent, was offset by a larger-than-expected drop in the unemployment rate, which fell to 4.2% from 4.6% in October. Added to this, the fact that the Fed has recognized a sufficient labor market recovery to allow for higher interest rates helped limit deeper losses.

On the other hand, lingering Brexit-related uncertainties continued to act as a headwind for the British pound. This was seen as another factor that kept any significant rise in GBP / USD in check. This makes it prudent to wait for a strong buying follow-up beyond the 200 hourly SMA, currently around the 1.3320-25 zone, before positioning for any further appreciation moves. The next big thing will be the US ISM services PMI, which could give the pair some boost.

Technical levels

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