EUR/GBP remains confined in a range around 0.8600 mark

• EUR/GBP witnessed a subdued/range-bound price action on Friday.
• Dovish BoE, COVID-19 jitters continued weighing on the sterling.
• Stronger USD kept the euro bulls on the defensive and capped gains.

The EUR/GBP cross seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses through the mid-European session and was seen hovering around the 0.8600 mark, nearly unchanged for the day.

The cross lacked any firm directional bias on the last trading day of the week and remained confined in a range just below two-and-half-week tops touched in the previous session. The prevalent strong bullish sentiment surrounding the US dollar kept the euro bulls on the defensive and capped the upside for the EUR/GBP cross.

On the other hand, the British pound was weighed down by the dovish comments by the BoE Governor, Andrew Bailey, saying that the central bank should not overreact to temporarily strong inflation. Apart from this, worries about the spread of the more contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus acted as a headwind for the sterling.

This, in turn, helped limit the downside for the EUR/GBP cross and led to a subdued/range-bound price action through the major part of the trading action on Friday. Investors now look forward to the US NFP report, which might infuse some volatility in the financial markets and produce some short-term trading opportunities around the cross.

Technical levels to watch