GBP/USD off lows, still in red post-US data
• A downward revision of US Q3 GDP growth figures fail to assist USD.
• Higher-than-expected jobless claims offset upbeat Philly Fed index.
The GBP/USD pair quickly reversed a bullish spike to the 1.3385-90 region and refreshed session lows in the past hour, albeit rebounded few pips after the US macro releases.
The US Dollar erased majority of its modest recovery gains following a downward revision of the third-quarter US GDP growth figures lowered to 3.2% as against 3.3% estimated previously.
Adding to this, the weekly jobless claims rose more-than-expected, coming in at 245K for the week ended December 16, and seems to have largely negated upbeat Philly Manufacturing Index, which rose to 26.2 for December.
Despite a modest good two-way move, traders still seemed lacking conviction and refrained from placing aggressive bets amid the pre-holiday lackluster trading action.
Technical outlook
Mario Blascak, European Chief Analyst at FXStreet writes: Momentum has turned negative, but remains only slightly below zero line, while the Relative Strength Index on the 4-hour chart stays neutral. Slow Stochastics bearish crossover late on Wednesday indicates a potential for lower GBP/USD with the move being limited by lower pre-Christmas market activity and lack of really important market-moving factors.