GBP/USD prints three-day losing streak below 1.2080 hurdle on Brexit anxiety, firmer yields

• GBP/USD extends pullback from one-month-old descending resistance line to print three-day downtrend.
• DUP dislikes mismatch between Brexit deal and UK PM Sunak’s promises, British businesses fear economic slowdown due to the terms.
• BoE’s Bailey appeared neutral and probed Cable buyers.
• Upbeat details of US ISM PMI, Fed talks underpin yields and the US Dollar amid sluggish day.

GBP/USD bears attack the 1.2000 psychological magnet during a three-day downtrend amid fresh challenges for the Brexit deal and a rally in the US Treasury bond yields. However, the market’s lack of action heading into Thursday’s London open appears to restrict the Cable pair’s immediate downside.

That said, The Telegraph came out with the downbeat updates surrounding the Brexit deal while citing the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) dissatisfaction with the parts of the previously hailed EU-UK departure terms over the Northern Ireland Protocol (NIP). “Sammy Wilson, the Unionist party’s Brexit spokesman in the Commons, suggested that parts of the Windsor Framework do not tally with what the Prime Minister has said in public,” said the news.

Elsewhere, the Financial Times (FT) came out with a survey saying that about two-thirds of UK businesses believe that government plans to disentangle British and EU law will cause more uncertainty and will not increase economic growth, according to a poll conducted on behalf of an alliance of environmental and public safety organizations.

It should be noted that the neutral comments from Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey, versus the hawkish remarks from Minneapolis Federal Reserve (Fed) President Neel Kashkari, also weigh on the GBP/USD prices. On the same line are the downbeat prints of the UK S&P/CIPS Manufacturing PMI versus the upbeat details of the US ISM Manufacturing PMI.

On a different page, consistent inflation woes and fading optimism over China’s economic growth, recently joined by the fears of the Sino-American tussles, also exert downside pressure on the GBP/USD prices. Amid these plays, the US 10-year Treasury bond yields rose to the highest levels since early November 2022 by piercing the 4.0% mark whereas the two-year counterpart rallied to the highest levels since June 2007 by flashing the 4.91% mark at the latest.  The jump in the US Treasury bond yields portrays the market’s fears, which in turn probed bulls on Wall Street and weigh on S&P 500 Futures as of late.

With the risk-off mood and firmer yields, the US Dollar Index (DXY) bounces off a one-week low to 104.60 at the latest, up 0.17% intraday.

Looking ahead, a light calendar can restrict GBP/USD moves and may keep it southwards ahead of Friday’s key US ISM Services PMI and final readings of the UK S&P Global/CIPS Services PMI for February.

Technical analysis

Unless providing a daily close beyond the one-month-old descending resistance line, around 1.2075 by the press time, the GBP/USD remains vulnerable to test an upward-sloping trend line from January 06, close to 1.1935 at the latest.