EUR/GBP maintains bearish bias for second straight session, eyeing 0.8600 mark

The British Pound outperformed its European counterpart, with the EUR/GBP cross extending previous session's reversal move from weekly bullish gap opening and inching back closer to the 0.8600 handle.

Currently trading around 0.8625-20 band, the cross remained under some selling pressure for the second consecutive session amid broad based buying interest surrounding the British Pound. Adding to this, a softer tone surrounding the EUR/USD major further collaborated to the pair's depreciating move on Tuesday.

A combination of strong UK macro data and a slight hawkish BoE shift has helped contributed toward the British Pound’s outperformance against the shared currency. Market participants, however, are likely to wait for the official Breit journey to begin before committing to the pair's next leg of directional move.

The UK PM Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty on Wednesday and ahead of the key event, market players are likely to remain cautious, which might lend some immediate support to the cross in absence of any major market moving economic releases.

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Technical levels to watch

Bears would be eyeing for a decisive break through 0.8610-0.8600 immediate support, below which the cross is likely accelerate the slide towards 0.8580-75 support en-route its next major support near 0.8550-45 zone.

On the upside, momentum above mid-0.8600s could get extended towards 0.8675 resistance (yesterday's high), above which the cross seems all set to surpass the 0.8700 handle and aim torwards tesing 0.8715-20 horizontal resistance.