GBP/USD clambering into the year's highs on Brexit confidence

• Sterling looking to continue bidding up as Brexit concerns are running into optimism.
• The Syria crisis walkback is providing a boost for risk appetite heading into the weekend.

The GBP/USD is sticking to recent highs, trading around 1.4230 ahead of the European markets.

With the economic calendar clear for the Sterling Friday session, the focus for GBP traders has turned back to Brexit, and despite the gap between EU and UK negotiators, market participants are hopeful that a successful resolution will be found, and as was noted earlier, "the UK and the European Union will start talks next week on their trade relationship after Brexit. As of now, the two sides stand divided on the key issues. The EU has rejected the UK’s proposals as cherry picking the best bits of EU membership and the UK says the EU is being too inflexible, according to Bloomberg. The British Pound could set new yearly highs next week if the trade talks begin on a positive note. On the other hand, signs of stress could derail the Sterling rally."

The GBP/USD has been capitalizing on the recent U-turn seen from Donald Trump, who hit the week taking an aggressive stance on the Syria crisis, but walked back his 'imminent missile strike' rhetoric on Thursday, and markets reacted positively to the news, and the Sterling followed other risk assets up the charts.

GBP/USD Levels to watch

The technical outlook for the GBP/USD remains unchanged, and as FXStreet's own Omkar Godbole stated earlier, "as of writing, the pair is trading at 1.4235. A clear break above 1.4245 (March 26 high) would set the tone for a re-test of 1.43 (psychological hurdle) and 1.4345 (Jan. 25 high). On the downside, breach of support at 1.4188 (5-day MA) would expose 1.4120 (10-day MA) and 1.4097 (21-day MA)."