GBP/USD surges to 3-week tops ahead of Brexit press conference

   •  Optimism over Brexit transition deal prompts some aggressive short-covering move.
   •  A follow-through buying interest needed to confirm a fresh bullish break.
   •  The EU-UK Brexit press conference would now be looked upon for fresh impetus.

The GBP/USD pair rallied over 120-pips from session lows and surged through the key 1.40 psychological mark barrier during the early European session on Monday. 

Ahead of the EU-UK Brexit press conference at 11.45 GMT, speculations that a provisional transition deal will be announced prompted some aggressive short-covering around the British Pound. 

This coupled with comments by Ireland's foreign minister Simon Coveney, saying that Brexit negotiations are moving forward provided an additional boost and lifted the pair to its highest level in 3-weeks. 

Meanwhile, possibilities of some short-term trading stops being triggered on a move beyond the 1.40 handle might have further collaborated towards aggravating the up-move over the past hour or so.

Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a follow-through buying interest to see if the up-move marks a fresh bullish breakout or turns out to a stop run. 

Technical levels to watch

Sustained move beyond 1.4030-40 immediate hurdle has the potential to continue boosting the pair further towards reclaiming the 1.4100 handle. On the flip side, the 1.4000 handle now becomes an immediate support to defend, which if broken might prompt some fresh shorting and drag the pair back towards 1.3930 horizontal support en-route the 1.3900 handle.