GBP/USD Forecast: Not getting better, just like Brexit talks

GBP/USD struggles with 1.3000, not going anywhere fast.
Brexit continues tearing Britain's main parties apart and talks are closer to breaking up.
The technical outlook leans to the downside for the currency pair.

Yohay Elam FXStreet

Nigel Farage's new Brexit party will receive more votes than the Conservatives and Labour combined in the upcoming European elections, according to a weekend poll. The shocking headline sent shivers down politicians' spines and may result in a breakup of cross-party talks.

Pro-Brexit members of the Conservative Party are ramping up the pressure on UK PM Theresa May to set out a departure date. The "deal is dead" say many in her party. Members of opposition Labour may agree to vote for the accord but only if it is sent back to the public in a confirmatory vote, a growing demand by front-benchers and backbenchers alike.

Around half of the party will not support a "Tory Brexit" nor "provide a lifeline for a government about to go into administration" as some say. Yet if May agrees to a second referendum, she will likely hasten her exit.

All in all, the talks now seem closer than ever to collapsing and this does not bode well for the pound.

However, not all is lost for GBP/USD. On Friday we learned that the economy grew by a robust 0.5% in the first quarter of the year. Despite being based on stockpiling ahead of Brexit, the recovery is still good news. Moreover, the fall in US bond yields following the crisis in trade talks limits any gains for the greenback.

See China's Options

The calendar is light today, leaving the scene to Brexit headlines and to a lesser extent, to trade-related news.

GBP/USD Technical Analysis

GBP/USD is trading above the 200 Simple Moving Average on the four-hour chart but below the 50 and 100 SMAs. Momentum remains to the downside while the Relative Strength Index is balanced.

Initial support awaits at 1.2990 which supported the currency pair twice in May. This month's low at 1.2965 is next down the line, and it is followed by 1.2920 and 1.2870 which defined the low range in late April.

Resistance awaits at 1.3035 that was a temporary high last week before GBP/USD hit a high of 1.3050. The next level to watch is 1.3080 which separated ranges earlier in May, and 1.3130 that was a swing higher around the same time.

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

EUR/USD extends its optimism past 1.1900

EUR/USD retains a firm underlying bid, surpassing the 1.1900 mark as the NA session draws to a close on Monday. The pair’s persistent uptrend comes as the US Dollar remains on the defensive, with traders staying cautious ahead of upcoming US NFP prints and CPI data.

GBP/USD hits three-day peaks, targets 1.3700

GBP/USD is clocking decent gains at the start of the week, advancing to three-day highs near 1.3670 and building on Friday’s solid performance. The better tone in the British Pound comes on the back of the intense sekk-off in the Greenback and despite re-emerging signs of a fresh government crisis in the UK.

Gold picks up pace, retargets $5,100

Gold gathers fresh steam, challenging daily highs en route to the $5,100 mark per troy ounce in the latter part of Monday’s session. The precious metal finds support from fresh signs of continued buying by the PBoC, while expectations that the Fed could lean more dovish also collaborate with the uptick.

XRP struggles around $1.40 despite institutional inflows

Ripple (XRP) is extending its intraday decline to around $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid growing pressure from the retail market and risk-off sentiment that continues to keep investors on the sidelines.

Japanese PM Takaichi nabs unprecedented victory – US data eyed this week

I do not think I would be exaggerating to say that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s snap general election gamble paid off over the weekend – and then some. This secured the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) an unprecedented mandate just three months into her tenure.