GBP/USD pierces above a June downslope trendline bulls eye 1.3600

• The British pound advances for the second day in a row, up 0.43%.
• UK’s Prime Minister said that England could handle the Omicron variant without reimposing lockdown restrictions.
• US ADP National Employment Figures smashed economists estimates, rises above 800K.

On Wednesday, the British pound advances during the New York session, trading at 1.3571 at the time of writing. The market sentiment remains mixed, with US equities fluctuating between gainers and losers. Despite the aforementioned, risk-sensitive currencies like the GBP advances some 0.43% to the detriment of the greenback.

The UK is under mild pressure due to the Omicron surge. On Tuesday, the UK reported 218,724 new Covid-19 cases. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that England could withstand a rise in Covid-19 infections without shutting down the economy.

The Prime Minister further noted that “together with the Plan B measures that we introduced before Christmas, we have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again. We can keep our schools and our businesses open, and we can find a way to live with this virus.”

In the meantime, during the overnight session, the GBP/USD remained subdued in the 1.3525-55 range, but in the last couple of hours, pierced a downslope trendline drawn from June 2021 cycle highs, which intersects with the 100-day moving average (DMA) around the 1.3545-60 area. The trendline break is courtesy of the softer trading tone of the greenback, with the US Dollar Index falling some 0.27%, sitting at 96.00.

On Wednesday, the US ADP National Employment Report portrayed that private payrolls for November surged by 807K more than the 400K estimated by analysts. The same data reported a revision lower for October’s reading from 534K down to 505K.

The data could prelude the Nonfarm Payrolls to be released on Friday, January 7th, by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists expect the employment figures to come at 400K, while the Unemployment Rate is expected to drop from 4.2% to 4.1%.

Later in the day, the Federal Reserve will release the FOMC December’s 2021 minutes.

GBP/USD Price Analysis: Bulls flirt with 100-day SMA ahead of US ADP/FOMC minutes