GBP/USD tumbles to 2-week lows, bears flirting with 1.2300 mark
- GBP/USD remained under some heavy selling pressure through the mid-European session.
- The strong bullish sentiment around the USD seemed to be a key factor exerting pressure.
- Technical selling below 1.2400 further seemed to have aggravated the bearish pressure.
The GBP/USD pair tumbled to fresh two-week lows in the last hour, with bears now looking to extend the downward trajectory further below the 1.2300 round-figure mark.
Following a brief consolidation through the early part of Tuesday's trading action, the pair came under some intense selling pressure since the early European session and extended its rejection slide from the very important 200-day SMA.
The downfall marked the pair's second straight day of a negative move – also the fourth in the previous five sessions – and was sponsored by broad-based US dollar strength, further boosted by concerns over the plunge in crude oil prices.
This comes amid persistent worries over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, which coupled with reports about the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un further underpinned the USD's safe-haven demand.
Meanwhile, the sharp intraday slide seemed rather unaffected by Tuesday’s mixed UK employment details, instead took along some short-term trading stops near the 1.2400 round-figure mark and aggravated the bearish pressure.
Tuesday’s US economic docket features the release of Existing Home Sales data, which is unlikely to provide any meaningful impetus or produce any meaningful trading opportunities as the focus remains on developments surrounding the coronavirus saga.
Technical levels to watch