GBP/USD eases from tops, up-move falters ahead of 1.2500 handle

• Upbeat UK retail sales helped build on the overnight bounce.
• Receding no-deal Brexit fears provided an additional boost.
• A modest pickup in the USD demand kept a lid on further gains.

The GBP/USD pair stalled its intraday up-move just ahead of the key 1.2500 psychological mark and quickly retreated around 30-pips during the early North-American session.

The pair built on the overnight modest recovery from 27-month lows and continued gaining positive traction for the second consecutive session, further helped by Thursday's upbeat UK retail sales figures for the month of June. 

This coupled with the fact that the UK lawmakers backed a proposal to make it more difficult for the new PM to force through a no-deal Brexit provided an additional boost to the British Pound and remained supportive.

However, the US Dollar demand - primarily on the back of some selling around the shared currency, picked up the pace following the release of Philly Fed manufacturing index and kept a lid on any strong follow-through up-move.

Meanwhile, the greenback failed to capitalize on the uptick following some dovish comments by St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, saying that a move to cut rates now would be an insurance against any slowdown.

Moving ahead, a scheduled speech by the New York Fed President John Williams might influence the USD price dynamics and will be looked upon to grab some short-term trading opportunities later during the US session.

Technical levels to watch