GBP/USD remains capped below 1.2800 following mixed UK data

Guillermo Alcala FXStreet

Pound rally has stalled right below 1.2800.
Upbeat UK services activity data has provided a fresh boost to the pair.
GBP/USD is unlikely to rally much further – Nomura.

The Sterling bounced higher following the release of the UK S&P Global/CIPS PMI figures on Friday although it remains unable to find a meaningful acceptance in the 1.2800 area.

Data released earlier today showed a strong improvement in services activity in December. The 52.7 flash PMI beat expectations of a 51.0 reading an marks the best performance of the last five months.

On the other hand, manufacturing activity revealed a deeper contraction, retreating to 46.4 from 47.2 in November, against the market consensus of a 47.5 reading.

GBP/USD further appreciation will be modest – Nomura

Looking forward, the Technical Analysis team at Nomura Bank are sceptical about the pair’s upside scope: “We do not expect economic growth in the UK for the next few quarters to be as resilient as in the US, and as a result, sluggish growth in the UK is likely to be a drag on GBP. Therefore, on net, we think the rise in GBP/USD will be modest, and expect 1.27 and 1.28 in Q1 and Q2 2024, respectively.”

Technical levels to watch

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.2766
Today Daily Change	-0.0006
Today Daily Change %	-0.05
Today daily open	1.2772

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.2597
Daily SMA50	1.2379
Daily SMA100	1.2454
Daily SMA200	1.25

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.2794
Previous Daily Low	1.2612
Previous Weekly High	1.2724
Previous Weekly Low	1.2502
Previous Monthly High	1.2733
Previous Monthly Low	1.2096
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.2725
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.2682
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.2658
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.2544
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.2476
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.284
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.2908
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.3022

Author

Guillermo Alcala

FXStreet

Graduated in Communication Sciences at the Universidad del Pais Vasco and Universiteit van Amsterdam, Guillermo has been working as financial news editor and copywriter in diverse Forex-related firms, like FXStreet and Kantox.

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