GBP/USD holding just above 1.32 ahead of BoE's Carney speech

The Sterling is drifting towards recent lows as confidence shakes out on combative statements from the BoE.
Today's Financial Stability Report and included Carney speech will draw plenty of attention for Wednesday.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The GBP/USD is trading steady near 1.3230 after Tuesday's action saw the pair slide from a high of 1.3290 as market sentiment continues to drift towards the downside.

The mood for the Sterling went lower on Tuesday, driven by comments from the Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee member Jonathan Haskel accused improper investment spending of being the primary driver behind the UK's slow productivity growth, and is further hampering interest rate's abilities to spur on further business investment. The GBP reacted negatively throughout the day, dipping into a low of 1.3190 before recovering at the tail end of the US session.

Wednesday brings a hefty outing from the BoE's Governor, Mark Carney, who will be speaking at 08:30 GMT when the central bank releases their latest Financial Stability Report, and Carney is expected to walk markets through the release's key points.

Later on in the US session will be the US' Durable Goods orders, with the data for May expected to come in at -1.0%, a negative reading, but still an improvement from the last reading of -1.6%.

GBP/USD levels to watch

Negative comments from BoE members are doing the Sterling no favors, and as FXStreet's Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik noted on the GBP/USD's technical stance for Wednesday: "the GBP/USD pair 4 hours chart shows that it fell below its 20 SMA, the first time since BOE's boost, while technical indicators entered negative territory, with nice downward slopes and at fresh weekly lows, anticipating some further declines ahead. Bulls will become more courageous only on a break above 1.3315, now a less likely scenario, while renewed selling pressure below the 1.5180 region exposes the 1.3100 figure, where the pair bottomed for this 2018."

Support levels: 1.3180 1.3135 1.3100

Resistance levels: 1.3245 1.3280 1.3315

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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