GBP/USD plummets to fresh weekly lows, below mid-1.2400s

• GBP/USD witnessed a dramatic turnaround on Wednesday amid resurgent USD demand.
• Dismal US retail sales added to concerns over the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The GBP/USD pair continued losing ground through the early North-American session and dropped to fresh weekly lows, below mid-1.2400s in post-US macro releases.

Data released this Wednesday showed that the US monthly retail sales plunged 8.7% in March as compared to a fall of 8% expected and further illustrated the extent of economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

This comes amid mounting fears about an imminent global recession, further fueled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) statement on Tuesday, and provided an additional boost to the already stronger US dollar.

The pair extended its steep intraday slide from 100-day EMA and has now retreated over 200 pips from five-week tops set in the previous session, taking along some intraday trading stops placed near the key 1.2500 psychological mark.

It will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to find any buying interest at lower levels or the current pullback marks the end of the recent strong recovery move from the 1.1400 neighbourhood or 35-year lows touched on March 20.

Technical levels to watch