GBP/USD consolidates above 1.2500

Matías Salord FXStreet

GBP/USD reached a fresh 3-week high at 1.2530 during the America session, but it failed to extend gains in a significant way above 1.2500. The pair is consolidating gains, hovering around 1.2515, moving in a modest range as volatility across the forex market remains low.

The pound today was among the top performers supported by better-than-expected reports of the UK retail sales sector. No economic report is due tomorrow in the UK. In the US, attention is on the health care vote. On Friday, the durables goods orders and the PMI reports will be released.

UK retail sales rebound sharply in Feb, a big beat

Technical outlook

“The pair maintains its positive tone, although the intraday advance stalled a few pips below a major resistance, the 23.6% retracement of the January's rally at 1.2540, now the level to surpass to confirm additional gains”, said Valeria Bednarik, Chief Analyst at FXStreet.

According to her, the 4-hour chart shows the price well above a bullish 20-SMA, but technical indicators are retreating from overbought levels, “reaffirming the case for the need of a bullish breakout of the mentioned Fibonacci resistance before considering going long.”

GBP/USD headed to congestion resistance at February/March range trade at 1.2580? - Scotiabank

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

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.