GBP/USD Price Analysis: 200-SMA, monthly support test bears post-Fed

• GBP/USD remains on the back foot around short-term critical supports.
• Downbeat MACD lines, failure to keep the bounce off one-month-old horizontal support area favor bears.
• Bulls need to cross fortnight-old resistance line to retake control.

GBP/USD battles key supports as sellers poke 1.3460 during early Thursday.

The cable pair broke the 200-SMA following the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) hawkish verdicts. However, clear trading beneath the same becomes necessary to convince the bears.

Other than the sustained trading below the 200-SMA level of 1.3478, GBP/USD sellers also need to conquer the horizontal area from December 23, around 1.3435-30, to stay in the driver’s seat.

Given the bearish MACD signals and the pair’s latest pullback, GBP/USD prices are likely to conquer the aforementioned supports, which in turn will direct the quote towards 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of December 2021 to January 2022 upside, around 1.3385.

Following that, the mid-December high near 1.3375 can act as a validation point to the south-run targeting the 1.3300 threshold.

Alternatively, recovery moves need to stay beyond the 200-SMA level of 1.3478 to challenge the 38.2% Fibo. level near 1.3525.

Though, GBP/USD bulls remain unconvinced till the quote stays below a two-week-long descending trend line, around 1.3575 by the press time.

GBP/USD: Four-hour chart

Trend: Further weakness expected