GBP/USD Forecast: Brexit hopes underpins the pound

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

GBP/USD Current Price: 1.2852

Brexit’s Nigel Farage to support the Conservative Party.
UK data missed the market’s expectations, but GDP bounced in Q3.
GBP/USD may resume its advance, as latest decline seen as corrective.

The Sterling was no doubt the star of the day, soaring to 1.2897 against the greenback, in spite of softer-than-anticipated UK data. The kingdom’s Total Trade Balance posted a £ 12.541B deficit, while Industrial Production declined by 0.3% MoM and by 1.4% YoY. Manufacturing Production in the same period, declined by 0.4% MoM and by 1.8% YoY. The preliminary estimate of Q3 Gross Domestic Product showed that the UK avoided recession, growing by 0.3%, slightly below the 0.4% expected although better than the previous -0.2%.

Comments from Brexit Party´s leader, Nigel Farage, boosted the pound, as he said he won’t contest Conservative seats won at the last election, but instead go after the seats held by Lib Dem and Labour. The latest polls show that Conservatives retain the lead, although Labours are clawing closer. This Tuesday, the UK will publish its latest employment data. The ILO unemployment rate is seen steady at 3.9% in September, while average earnings in the three-month to September are also seen unchanged.

GBP/USD short-term technical outlook

The GBP/USD pair has settled around 1.2860, and it has recovered above the 23.6% retracement of the latest daily advance, now the immediate support at around 1.2820. In the 4-hour chart, a flat 100 SMA is offering dynamic resistance just ahead of the 1.2900 level, while the 20 SMA converges with the mentioned Fibonacci support. Technical indicators have recovered, with the Momentum heading north and the RSI consolidating both in positive territory.

Support levels: 1.2820 1.2785 1.2750

Resistance levels: 1.2895 1.2920 1.2950

View Live Chart for the GBP/USD

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.