GBP/USD back to 1.30 ahead of another US NFP risk event

Another US NFP Friday sees thin markets and constrained liquidity ahead of the key reading.
Brexit hangs like a cloud over Pound traders, with little promise of answers to come in the near-term.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The GBP/USD is trading into the 1.3000 major handle heading into Friday's London market session after catching a bullish rebound on Thursday from the week's low of 1.2922.

Friday has a thin calendar on the offering for the GBP, with only the low-tier Halifax House Index at 07:30 GMT, with the quarter-on-year figure for September forecast to come in at 3.3%, with the previous quarter's reading coming in at 3.7%.

Brexit continues to be the major driver behind the Pound, and leaders from both the European Union and Ireland are strongly urging the UK to stop wasting time and begin finding real-world, workable solutions. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May continues to try and salvage her belly-up Chequers proposals for Brexit, an outline that has been soundly rejected already by both EU leaders in Brussels and Conservative Brexiteers that populate May's own party.

It's another Non-Farm Payrolls Friday in the upcoming US session, and markets will be capping off a volume-constrained week with another reading of the mega-jobs report from the US, with median market forecasts calling for a headline reading of 185 thousand jobs, a slight pullback from the previous month's 201 thousand. Buried further within the NFP report, Average Hourly Earnings are also expected to see a hiccup, expected to print at 2.8% versus the previous 2.9%. The NFP action will kick off at 12:30 GMT.

GBP/USD levels to watch

The Sterling is struggling to develop real momentum in either direction, as Brexit headlines continue to hang the GBP out to dry, and as noted by FXStreet's own Valeria Bednarik, "the 4 hours chart shows that the pair was unable to surpass a flat 200 EMA, but so far holds above an also directionless 20 SMA. The Momentum indicator in the mentioned chart maintains its upward slope within positive territory, but the RSI indicator is currently easing around its mid-line, rather limiting the upward potential than favoring a new leg lower. Renewed selling interest below 1.2960, however, should open doors for a steeper decline toward a major static support at around 1.2880."

Support levels: 1.2960 1.2920 1.2880

Resistance levels: 1.3040 1.3085 1.3120

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

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.

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