GBP/USD Forecast: Bearish Below 1.40 Handle, Today's US ISM To Provide Some Impetus

The GBP/USD pair continues finding some decent support near the key 1.40 psychological mark and gained some fresh positive traction at the start of a new quarter/week. Despite the up-move, the pair remained within Friday's trading range and lacked any follow-through traction amid holiday-thinned liquidity conditions. 

The up-move remained capped below 1.4060 immediate supply zone as traders now look forward to a slew of important macroeconomic releases, scheduled at the start of a new month, for some fresh directional impetus. A busy week of economic data kicks off with the release of US ISM manufacturing PMI later during the early NA session and might help traders grab some short-term trading opportunities.

From a technical perspective, the pair last week confirmed a bearish break below a short-term ascending trend-channel and hence, remains vulnerable to extend its near-term downfall. A convincing break below the 1.40 handle, coinciding with 50-day SMA support, would reinforce the negative outlook and accelerate the fall towards the 1.3900 handle with some intermediate support near the 1.3960 horizontal zone. 

On the upside, sustained move beyond the 1.4060 level could lift the pair back towards the 1.4100 handle but any subsequent up-move might now be capped at the trend-channel support break-point turned resistance near the 1.4120-30 region.