GBP/USD refreshes session low, around mid-1.3100s on news of shorter Brexit extension date

   •  EU-27 leaders said to insist May 22 as the Brexit extension date rather than June 30. 
   •  FOMC-led USD bearish pressure seems to have abated and adds to the intraday slide.
   •  Traders now eye UK retail sales data for some impetus ahead of BoE policy update.

The GBP/USD pair failed to capitalize on the early attempted recovery and dropped to fresh session lows, around mid-1.3100s in the last hour.

Having posted a session high level of 1.3227, the pair met with some fresh supply in reaction to news that the EU-27 leaders are looking at May 22 as the Brexit extension date, over a month earlier than June 30 requested by the UK PM Theresa May.

The reasoning here is that EU-27 leaders want to avoid a political clash with the European Parliament elections, due on May 23, and gives May less time to get her deal through the UK parliament, which was eventually seen exerting some fresh downward pressure on the British Pound.

Meanwhile, the recent US Dollar bearish pressure, further aggravated by the Fed's more dovish outlook than previously expected, now seems to have abated, at least for the time being, and further collaborated to the pair's sharp intraday slide of around 75-80 pips. 

The downside, however, remained cushioned as investors still seemed reluctant to place any aggressive bets ahead of the latest BoE monetary policy update and any fresh Brexit-related headlines coming out of the EU economic summit, starting today.

In the meantime, today's UK economic docket, highlighting the release of monthly retail sales data, though seems unlikely to be a major game changer, will be looked upon for some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch