GBP/USD hovering around 1.25 mark, eyeing UK retail sales for fresh impetus

The greenback remained on back foot against its British counterpart, helping the GBP/USD pair to maintain its bid tone for the second consecutive session.

Currently hovering around 1.2500 psychological mark, underlying concerns over the US President Donald Trump's protectionist stance, and lack of details on his pro-economic policies, continues to discourage investors to initiate any near-term long-dollar bets and assisting the pair's ongoing recovery move from Wednesday's sub-1.2400 level.

Looking at the broader picture, the pair remained within last week's trading range and lacked a firm near-term direction in wake of this week's disappointment from the latest UK CPI print and wage growth data. 

Traders on Friday will to take cues from the release of retail sales data from the UK, which is expected to post a m-o-m growth of 0.9%, while an empty US economic docket is unlikely to provide any fresh impetus during NA session. 

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained move above 1.2500 mark, leading to a subsequent strength above 1.2525 region (yesterday’s high), is likely to accelerate the up-move back towards 1.2575-80 resistance ahead of 1.2600 round figure mark.

On the flip side, 1.2465 level now seems to protect immediate downside, which if broken could drag the pair back towards 50-day SMA support near 1.2420 region before eventually dropping to retest Feb. monthly lows support near 1.2350-45 region.