• GBP/USD witnessed some selling for the third successive day amid sustained USD buying.
• Break below the 23.6% Fibo. level should pave the way for a slide towards 100-day SMA.

The GBP/USD pair edged lower for the third successive day and extended last week's rejection slide from the very important 200-day SMA or the highest level since October 29. The pair maintained its offered tone through the first half of the European session and was last seen trading near a one-week low, around the 1.3620 region.

Firming expectations that the Fed would start raising interest rates in March 2022 amid concerns over stubbornly high inflation continued pushing the US Treasury bond yields higher. This, along with the risk-off impulse in the equity markets, benefitted the safe-haven US dollar and exerted some downward pressure on the GBP/USD pair.

From a technical perspective, the corrective pullback has now dragged spot prices closer to support marked by the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level of 1.3161-1.3749 strong move up. Some follow-through selling below, leading to a subsequent breakthrough the 1.3600 mark would expose the 100-day SMA support near mid-1.3500s.

This is followed by the 38.2% Fibo. level, around the 1.3525 region, which if broken decisively will suggest that the GBP/USD pair has topped out in the near term. The subsequent technical selling should pave the way for a slide below the key 1.3500 psychological mark, towards testing the 50% Fibo. level, around the 1.3455 region.

On the flip side, the daily swing high, around the 1.3660 area now seems to act as an immediate resistance ahead of the 1.3700 mark. Any further positive move might continue to meet with a fresh supply near the 1.3745-1.3750 region (200-DMA), which should act as a pivotal point and help determine the near-term trajectory for the GBP/USD pair.

GBP/USD daily chart

Levels to watch