GBP/USD muted reaction to US releases, remained well below 1.30 mark

The GBP/USD pair's tepid recovery from 4-week lows got sold into near 1.3000 psychological mark and the pair remained well offered below the handle resistance to currently trade around 1.2960-70 band.

The pair had a muted reaction to the release of the US data that showed initial jobless claims came-in at 266K, which was mostly in-line with 265K estimated. Previous week reading was revised slightly lower to 267K as compared to 269K originally reported and continues to reflect the underlying strength in the US labor market.

Meanwhile, import price index for the month of July unexpectedly rose by 0.1% and the rise for June was also revised higher to show an up-tick of 0.6%. Thursday's data kept alive hopes of an eventual Fed rate-hike in 2016 and could now provide some respite to the greenback. 

However, investors would still await for Friday's release of monthly retail sales and consumer confidence data that would assist them to determine the near-term for the GBP/USD major.

Technical levels to watch

From current level, 1.2950 level remains immediate support to watch for, which if broken decisively should drag the pair immediately towards 1.2900 handle before darting towards its next major support near 1.2850 region.

On the flip side, any recovery attempt might continue to confront immediate resistance near 1.3000 mark. Even if the pair manages to clear this immediate barrier, further upside now seems to be capped at 1.3020-25 strong horizontal resistance.