GBP/USD slips into negative territory ahead of UK GDP

After yesterday's failed attempt to reclaim 1.2500 handle, the GBP/USD pair ran through fresh offers during early European session on Friday and reversed over 50-pips from session peak. 

Currently trading around 1.2430-25 region, the pair came under some selling pressure and dropped to session low, albeit has bounce off session low near 1.2415 region, ahead of the revised UK economic growth figures for the third quarter of 2016. 

The second estimate of UK GDP is expected to match the preliminary reading to show a growth of 0.5% for Q3. However, being a key economic indicator, an unexpected reading could trigger a fresh bout of volatility around the major. 

Meanwhile, a broad based greenback retracement, as measured by the overall US Dollar Index, limited further downslide and the pair prolonged its near-term consolidation phase for the third consecutive session. 

Later during NA session, US economic releases - goods trade balance, prelim wholesale inventories and Markit’s flash services PMI, might provide some impetus for the major.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate downside support is pegged at 1.2400 round figure mark, which if broken decisively is likely to accelerate the slide further towards weekly lows support near 1.2310-1.2300 area with 1.2360 (Wednesday's low) acting as intermediate support. On the upside, momentum above 1.2475 (session peak) now seems to assist the pair beyond 1.2500 handle towards its next major hurdle near 1.2535-40 area.

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