EUR/GBP holding above 0.8650 after UK jobs report

The British Pound failed to benefit from a surprise drop in UK claimant counts, with the EUR/GBP cross holding on to its gains to currently trade near session peak, just above mid-point of 0.8600. 

The British Pound came under renewed selling pressure despite of better-than-expected UK employment details for July that showed jobless rate held steady at eight-year lows of 4.9% and people claiming jobless benefits unexpectedly dropping to negative 8600. Also, in-line with expected wage growth of 2.4% 3m y/y failed to extend any support.

However, offered tone around the EUR/USD major capped sharp appreciation for the EUR/GBP cross following a sharp reversal from a fresh 3-year high above 0.8700 handle touched on Tuesday.

Technical levels to watch

From current levels 0.8680 level now seems to act as immediate resistance, above which the cross is likely to make a fresh attempt to move back above 0.8700 handle and retest Tuesday's multi-year high resistance near 0.8720 area.

On the flip side, sustained weakness below session low support near 0.8630-20 region is likely to trigger a near-term corrective move that could drag the pair immediately towards 0.8600 round figure mark support before extending its pull-back further towards 20-day SMA support near 0.8520 region.