GBP/USD: Buyers aim for 1.2900 with eyes on BOE Governor Mark Carney Speech

• GBP/USD remains positive for the third day in a row.
• The EU-UK Brexit negotiations take heats from fisheries as the UK warns to deploy Navy in British waters on no-deal after June.
• BOE’s incoming Governor Bailey raised doubts on further rate cuts, Carney showed readiness to avail all options earlier.
• Speech from BOE Governor Carney, Brexit/Coronavirus headlines will be the key.

While following its three-day winning streak, GBP/USD registers 0.04% gains to 1.2875 ahead of the London open on Thursday. The Cable seems to have benefited from the US dollar weakness while the BOE’s refrain from further rate cuts also contributes to the pair’s recovery moves. Hence, traders will keep eyes on today’s speech from the BOE Governor Mark Carney for near-term direction.

As expected, diplomats from the European Union (EU) and the UK continue to cross each other on every aspect of the post-Brexit trade deal negotiations. Fisheries have been the key for the British negotiators and they have warned to deploy Navy to safeguard the waters from the bloc’s ships if no deal is agreed by June. While identifying this, the Vice President of the European Parliament, Katarina Barley, recently said it was an important agreement was reached over these three areas but expressed skepticism that a deal can be achieved within the time limit.

At home, Sky News spots former business secretary Andrea Leadsom while stating that the government's previous preparations for a potential no-deal Brexit stand it in "incredibly good stead" to help firms deal with the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The deadly virus continues to grow outside China with California recently announcing a state of emergency. However, the global policymakers’ efforts to counter the same seems to have helped the risk-tone off-late. That said, the US 10-year treasury yields remain positive above 1.000% whereas stocks in Asian are also positive by the press time.

The BOE Governor Mark Carney is due to speak at University College London and will be closely observed for the UK central bank’s actions to combat COVID-19 implications. However, the incoming Governor Andrew Bailey has already said that the BOE should wait until it has more clarity about the economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak before making any decision to cut interest rates.

Technical Analysis

21-day SMA and a descending trend line since early-February, respectively around 1.2920 and 1.2940, keep buyers on the check whereas sellers await a sustained break below 1.2700 to aim for September 2019 high near 1.2585.