GBP/USD refreshes session lows amid resurgent USD demand

   •  USD demand picks up pace after Powell’s comments.
   •  GBP further weighed down by disappointing Halifax HPI.
   •  Downside remains cushioned ahead of BoE Super Thursday.

The GBP/USD pair quickly retreated around 60-65 pips from session tops touched in the last hour and touched an intraday low level of 1.3526 in the last hour.

The pair's attempted up-move failed ahead of the 1.3600 neighborhood, with some renewed US Dollar buying interest prompting some aggressive selling over the past hour or so. The USD demand picked-up pace following the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments, saying that the Fed's action should not surprise market as it is reasonably well aligned with 'dot-plot'.

This coupled with disappointing Halifax HPI, though not a major data point added to the recent slew of softer UK economic data and exerted some additional downward pressure on the British Pound. 

Despite a good two-way move, the pair has held within a familiar trading range, around the very important 200-day SMA, as investors held back from placing aggressive bets and preferred to wait on the sideline ahead of the highly anticipated BoE Super Thursday.

In absence of any major market moving economic releases, the US President Donald Trump's decision on the Iran nuclear deal, scheduled to be announced later in the day, might infuse some fresh bout of volatility in the market and produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through selling pressure has the potential to drag the pair further towards the key 1.3500 psychological mark, which if broken is likely to accelerate the slide towards 1.3465 support. On the upside, the 1.3590-1.3600 region now seems to act as an immediate resistance and any subsequent up-move beyond the mentioned barrier is likely to be capped near mid-1.3600s.