GBP/USD advances to highs near 1.2540

The Sterling is now gathering extra traction vs. the buck, lifting GBP/USD to fresh daily highs near 1.2540.

GBP/USD on USD-selling

The pair met extra buying pressure at the beginning of the week, prompting the pair to extend further north its breakout of the critical barrier at 1.2500 the figure.

The greenback remains on the defensive so far on Monday, giving away part of last week’s strong advance and thus sponsoring the current rebound in the riskier assets.

Despite the USD weakness, GBP stays also supported by UK fundamentals and alleviated fears of a ‘hard Brexit’ outcome from the upcoming negotiations to leave the European Union. Recall that PM Theresa May is expected to trigger Article 50 in early March.

In the meantime, and according to the latest CFTC report, the speculative community has added further shorts to the net short position during the week ended on February 7, reaching 3-week highs.

In the data space, UK’s inflation figures are due tomorrow, ahead of the labour market report on Wednesday and Retail Sales on Friday.

GBP/USD levels to consider

As of writing the pair is up 0.33% at 1.2531 and a breakout of 1.2572 (high Feb.7) would open the door to 1.2680 (high Jan.26) and finally 1.2715 (high Feb.2). On the flip side, the immediate support aligns at 1.2436 (low Feb.10) followed by 1.2344 (low Feb.7) and finally 1.2250 (low Jan.19).