GBP/USD extends backslide for Friday, aimed for 1.21

The GBP/USD is continuing Thursday's losses, dropping towards the 1.2100 handle heading into the week's close.
Friday's early bounce gave way to further red on the charts, with Sterling bidders finding little support.
Sterling traders will be looking ahead to Tuesday's wages and employment figures for the UK.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The GBP/USD slipped further on Friday, seeing a mild intraday rebound into 1.2222 before slumping back into fresh lows for the week and tapping 1.2122. With broader markets favoring the US Dollar (USD) on risk aversion sparked by Federal Reserve (Fed) rate fears, the Pound Sterling (GBP) is struggling to find a bid heading into Friday's market close.

The GBP/USD rose steadily through the first half of the trading week, marking in a high of 1.2337, but gains were to be short-lived after Thursday's US inflation-fueled broad-market dog-pile back into the US Dollar, sending the GBP/USD back into the red for the week.

Next week will see plenty of action for both the Pound Sterling and the US Dollar, with Tuesday's double-feature of UK labor figures and a US retail sales update.

The UK's Employment Change for August is expected to moderate, from -207K to -195K, while earnings (excluding bonuses) for the quarter into August are expected to hold steady at 3.8%.

Labor data for the UK will be followed up by an appearance from Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Dr. Swati Dhingra and another round of 30-year bond auctions.

On the Greenback side, US Retail Sales for September are forecast to see declines, from 0.6% to 0.2%, with Industrial Production for the same period seen similarly slipping from 0.4% to a scant 0.1%.

GBP/USD Technical Outlook

The GBP/USD is down 0.7% from the week's opening bids after taking a run at the 1.2100 handle, and the pair remains firmly off the week's highs of 1.2337, down over 1.6% from the top set on Wednesday.

The pair slipped the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) near the 1.2200 major level on Thursday, and the 50-hour SMA has near-term median prices accelerating declines, moving bearishly towards 1.2220 and set for a bearish cross if markets don't stabilize Pound Sterling bids.

Daily candles likewise show the GBP/USD trapped firmly in bear territory, with 2023's low bids sitting nearby at 1.1802. The 50-day SMA is set for a bearish cross of the 200-day SMA near 1.2450, with the Pound Sterling steeply off 2023's highs of 1.3142.

GBP/USD Hourly Chart

GBP/USD Daily Chart

GBP/USD Technical Levels

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.214
Today Daily Change	-0.0035
Today Daily Change %	-0.29
Today daily open	1.2175

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.2234
Daily SMA50	1.2476
Daily SMA100	1.2602
Daily SMA200	1.2444

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.2332
Previous Daily Low	1.2172
Previous Weekly High	1.2262
Previous Weekly Low	1.2037
Previous Monthly High	1.2713
Previous Monthly Low	1.2111
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.2233
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.2271
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.2121
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.2066
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.1961
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.2281
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.2386
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.2441

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.

AUD/USD bulls regain control above 0.6950 amid USD retreat

AUD/USD regains traction and extends the previous day's bounce from the weekly low, aiming for 0.7000 in Asia on Friday. The overnight pullback in US bond yields keeps the US Dollar below an 18-month high, which in turn offers some support to the pair. Meanwhile, hawkish RBA expectations also keep the major underpinned.

USD/JPY holds gains near 158.00 after Japan's weak Household Spending data

USD/JPY clings to gains around 158.00 after data showed on Friday that Japan's Household Spending fell for the ninth straight month, undermining the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains depressed as the overnight fall in US bond yields counters a hawkish Fed and geopolitical uncertainties, could cap any downside in the pair.

Gold remains range-bound below $4,200

Gold has given up some ground after an initial bullish attempt to reach weekly highs, returning to below the $4,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The US Dollar’s strong upside momentum, combined with rising US Treasury yields across the curve, seems to keep further gains in the yellow metal under scrutiny.

Has Bitcoin really escaped the macro forces it was built to fight?

Over 17 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto designed Bitcoin (BTC) on the back of a global financial crisis as an alternative to the global monetary system outside the control of central banks, governments and traditional intermediaries. This raises a key question: has Bitcoin really become independent of the macroeconomic forces it was built to challenge?

The Euro is not the sick man of Europe. France's bond market is

EUR/USD remains under pressure, near the 17-month low of 1.1161 reached on Monday. The pair has lost more than 7% since its yearly peak, as concerns over France's public finances increasingly weigh on the single currency. But behind the weakness of the Euro (EUR), the problem does not necessarily lie with the European economy as a whole.