|

GBP/USD back into familiar territory below 1.38

  • Sterling bulls' hopes for a May rate hike dashed against the rocks of a souring UK economy.
  • UK PMIs this week promise little shelter for fleeing Sterling traders.

The Sterling is trading quietly in Monday's early session, cycling around 1.3775 after Friday's dump saw the GBP shed nearly two hundred pips against the Greenback.

Swing Trades: GBP/USD

The GBP/USD accelerated recent losses to cap off last week following a GDP release with the worst growth figure in five years, with the UK's quarterly GDP printing at 0.1% versus the expected 0.5%. A new week begins with the Sterling having fallen over four percent since April's high of 1.4375.

Monday's European session is a decidedly quiet affair for the GBP with nothing scheduled on the economic calendar, but the GBP's recent rout is a warning sign for would-be bullish traders as the Bank of England (BoE) heads into their next rate call, and it looks increasingly like the BoE is going to have to hold off on a May rate increase, which was priced in on traders' expectations of a rate hike, and now looks unlikely to happen following a vicious cycle of worse-than-expected macro figures for the UK's economy within recent weeks.

GBP/USD Weekly Forecast: With UK economy decelerating, rate hike in May is a joking option

Markit Manufacturing and Services PMIs are scattered throughout the week, beginning with the Markit Manufacturing PMI on Tuesday at 08:30 GMT (forecast 55.3, prev. 55.1). A continued piling-up of drooping figures for the UK will continue to punish the Sterling moving forward, but first the US session will see the Core Personal Consumption Price Index on Monday at 12:30 GMT (expected 1.8%, prev. 1.6) which could derail the GBP against the Greenback early if the figures beat expectations.

GBP/USD analysis: UK data disappointed big, no rate hike at sight

GBP/USD Levels to watch

Evaporated expectations for a rate hike from the BoE in May and swooning macro figures for the UK's economy are looking set to continue hammering the Sterling, and as FXStreet's Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik noted, "the GBP/USD pair is technically bearish according to the daily chart, as the pair settled far below its 20 DMA, which slowly gyrates south, while technical indicators maintain their strong downward slopes near oversold readings. Shorter term, and according to the 4 hours chart, the risk is also leaned to the downside, as a bearish 20 SMA has been steadily capping the upside, now around 1.3900, while technical indicators stalled their recoveries from extreme oversold levels and the RSI already turned south, currently at 23. The pair bottomed at 1.3746 last Friday, making of the level and immediate support and the one to break to confirm additional declines ahead."

Support levels: 1.3745 1.3710 1.3680

Resistance levels: 1.3820 1.3860 1.3900   

Author

Joshua Gibson

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

More from Joshua Gibson
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD faces next resistance near 1.1930

EUR/USD has surrendered its earlier intraday advance on Thursday and is now hovering uncomfortably around the 1.1860 region amid modest gains in the US Dolla. Moving forward, markets are exoected to closely follow Friday’s release of US CPI data.
 

GBP/USD change course, nears 1.3600

GBP/USD gives away its daily gains and recedes toward the low-1.3600s on Thursday. Indeed, Cable now struggles to regain some upside traction on the back of the sudden bout of buying interest in the Greenback. In the meantime, investors continue to assess a string of underwhelming UK data releases released earlier in the day.

Gold plunges on sudden US Dollar demand

Gold drops markedly on Thursday, challenging the $4,900 mark per troy ounce following a firm bounce in the US Dollar and amid a steep sell-off on Wall Street, with losses led by the tech and housing sectors.

Ripple collaborates with Aviva Investors to tokenize funds as XRP interest declines

Ripple (XRP) exhibits subtle recovery signs, trading slightly above $1.40 at the time of writing on Thursday, as crypto prices broadly edge higher. Despite the metered uptick, risk-off sentiment remains a concern across the crypto market, as retail and institutional interest dwindle.

A tale of two labour markets: Headline strength masks underlying weakness

Undoubtedly, yesterday’s delayed US January jobs report delivered a strong headline – one that surpassed most estimates. However, optimism quickly faded amid sobering benchmark revisions.

Aster Price Forecast: Demand sparks on Binance Wallet partnership for on-chain perpetuals

Aster is up roughly 9% so far on Thursday, hinting at the breakout of a crucial resistance level. Aster partners up with Binance wallet for the second season of the on-chain perpetuals challenge.