GBP/USD witnesses an intraday turnaround and retreats nearly 100 pips from the daily high.The USD retains its monthly peak and turns out to be a key factor exerting pressure.
The GBP/USD pair extends its intraday retracement slide from the vicinity of mid-1.2100s and continues losing ground through the early North American session. Spot prices drop to the 1.2050-1.2045 region, or a fresh daily low in the last hour, reversing a major part of the overnight recovery gains from the monthly low.
The US dollar regains some positive traction and inches back closer to its highest level since late July touched the previous day. This overshadows hotter-than-expected UK consumer inflation figures and attracts fresh selling around the GBP/USD pair. Expectations that the Fed will stick to its policy tightening path, along with a fresh leg up in the US Treasury bond yields and the risk-off impulse, continue to underpin the safe-haven buck.
The USD holds on to its modest intraday gains after the US Census Bureau reported that US Retail Sales remained flat in July, missing expectations for a modest 0.1% increase. A slight disappointment, however, was largely offset by unexpected growth in sales excluding autos, which rose 0.4% during the reported month. Adding to this, Control Group sales climbed 0.8% during the reported month against consensus estimates pointing to a 0.6% rise.
The data might have lifted bets for a larger Fed rate hike move at the September meeting, which remains supportive of elevated US Treasury bond yields. That said, traders seem reluctant to place aggressive bets and prefer to wait for the FOMC meeting minutes, due for release later during the US session. This, in turn, suggests that the GBP/USD pair is more likely to find decent support and stall the intraday slide near the 1.2000 pivotal support.
EUR/USD has lost its momentum after having climbed toward 1.0200 during the European trading hours on Wednesday. As investors wait for the FOMC to release the minutes of its July meeting, the dollar consolidates its daily gains, allowing the pair to hold above 1.0150.
EUR/USD News
GBP/USD retreats to 1.2050 area ahead of FOMC Minutes
GBP/USD has reversed its direction after having recovered toward 1.2100 in the second half of the day on Wednesday and retreated toward 1.2050. The risk-averse market environment makes it difficult for the pair to gain traction as focus shifts to FOMC Minutes.
GBP/USD News
Gold pushes lower toward $1,760 as US yields extend rally
Gold continues to decline toward $1,760 during the American trading hours on Wednesday. Before the FOMC releases the July meeting minutes, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield is up more than 3% on the day above 2.9%, weighing heavily on XAU/USD.
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