GBP/USD clings to 1.2200, as ‘hard Brexit’ weighs

The Sterling is trading almost unchanged vs. the US Dollar on Wednesday, with GBP/USD gyrating around the 1.2200 ahead of the European open.

GBP/USD focus on Brexit, US data

The pair is losing ground for the second week in a row so far today, trading at the same time in multi-week troughs in the 1.2200 neighbourhood, gaining some pips after bottoming out around 1.2180 on Tuesday.

The selling pressure has intensified around GBP after the government suffered another setback from the House of Lords on Tuesday, prompting fears of a ‘hard Brexit’ scenario to resurface.

The Upper House voted 366 to 248 to give the UK Parliament the right to veto the final outcome of PM May’s negotiations to leave the European Union. The amendments to the Brexit bill will now return to the House of Commons for deliberation, all threatening the original idea of PM T.May to trigger Article 50 by end of March.

Nothing scheduled data wise in the UK today, whereas the ADP report is due across the pond. Market consensus expects the US private sector to have added 190K jobs during February.

GBP/USD levels to consider

As of writing the pair is up 0.06% at 1.2206 facing the next hurdle at 1.2253 (high Mar.7) followed by 1.2302 (high Mar.6) and finally 1.2382 (55-day sma). On the other hand, a break below 1.2167 (low Mar.7) would aim for 1.2036 (low Jan.11) and the 1.1979 (2017 low Jan.16).