GBP/USD sees a further downside to near 1.2200 as anxiety soars ahead of US NFP

GBP/USD is expected to continue its downside journey to near 1.2200 as focus shifts to US NFP data.
To tame double-digit inflation, the BOE pushed interest rates by 50 bps to 4%.
Investors will keep an eye on US Average Hourly Earnings data for further guidance.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The GBP/USD pair has shown a vertical sell-off to near 1.2225 and is expected to continue its downside journey to near the round-level support of 1.2200 ahead. The Cable witnessed a massive sell-off after investors shrugged off expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will pause policy tightening ahead and poured funds into the US Dollar Index (DXY). Apart from that, investors dumped the Pound Sterling despite the Bank of England (BoE) continuing its hawkish stance on interest rates.

On Thursday, the USD Index recovered firmly after building a cushion around 100.50. The extremely oversold condition of the USD Index triggered buying interest among the market participants. The USD Index soared above 101.50 and has now turned sideways below 101.40 ahead of the United States Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for further guidance.

To tame the double-digit inflation figure, BOE Governor Andrew Bailey announced an interest rate hike by 50 basis points (bps), which pushed borrowing rates to 4%. The BoE was an early adopter that started contracting its monetary policy after the pandemic period and has now announced its 10^th consecutive interest rate hike. However, the inflation rate is still double-digit amid rising wage rates due to squeezed labor supply. Also, the softening energy prices are offset by the rising food price index, which was recorded at 16.8% for December.

There is no denying the fact that BoE policymakers have done much with interest rates to decelerate inflation, however, the United Kingdom economy is not responding, as expected, to extreme policy tightening.

On Friday, the release of the US NFP data will be of utmost importance. According to the consensus, the United States economy has added 185K jobs in the labor market in January vs. the former release of 223K in times when labor demand is exceeding supply. The Unemployment Rate is seen at 3.6% vs. 3.5% released earlier. The catalyst that will be critically monitored by investors for further action will be the Average Hourly Earnings data.

GBP/USD

Overview
Today last price	1.2231
Today Daily Change	-0.0143
Today Daily Change %	-1.16
Today daily open	1.2374

Trends
Daily SMA20	1.2274
Daily SMA50	1.2188
Daily SMA100	1.179
Daily SMA200	1.1959

Levels
Previous Daily High	1.2395
Previous Daily Low	1.2272
Previous Weekly High	1.2448
Previous Weekly Low	1.2263
Previous Monthly High	1.2448
Previous Monthly Low	1.1841
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	1.2348
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	1.2319
Daily Pivot Point S1	1.2299
Daily Pivot Point S2	1.2224
Daily Pivot Point S3	1.2177
Daily Pivot Point R1	1.2422
Daily Pivot Point R2	1.247
Daily Pivot Point R3	1.2545

Author

Sagar Dua

FXStreet

Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.

GBP/USD revisits 1.3530; Dollar pushes harder

GBP/USD adds to the weekly correction and recedes toward the 1.3530 zone on Friday. Indeed, Cable faces increasing selling pressure on the back of extra gains in the Greenback, particularly fuelled by Chair Warsh’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium and the US NFP Annual Revision (-79K).

EUR/USD breaches below 1.1600, multi-day lows

EUR/USD now accelerates its decline and retreats to seven-day troughs in the sub-1.1600 region at the end of the week. The pair’s pullback comes on the back of the strong rebound in the US Dollar after Chair Warsh delivered a hawkish message in Jackson Hole, while the US NFP Annual Revision came in at -79K.

Gold challenges its 200-day SMA near $4,530

Gold’s decline gathers fresh steam, hitting weekly lows while disputing its critical 200-day SMA near $4,530 per troy ounce. The yellow metal’s increasing weakness comes in response to the generalised upbeat tone in the US Dollar and the widespread rebound in US Treasury yields, as investors continue to reprice a Fed rate hike in September.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP rally loses steam despite steady ETF inflows

Bitcoin is back below $80,000 at the time of writing on Friday, after a second attempt at breaking resistance between $81,000 and $82,000. Meanwhile, Ethereum and Ripple mirror Bitcoin’s cooling trend, with ETH sliding to $2,500 and XRP falling toward $1.40 support.

Week ahead – RBNZ and BoC decide on rates ahead of all-important US NFP

Dollar rebounds ahead of ISM PMI and NFP data. RBNZ is expected to raise rates; focus to fall on forward guidance. BoC is set to remain on hold; will it raise rates in 2027?

Diesel’s record $100 warning: The oil shock hiding in plain sight

The Oil market may look calmer than it did a few months ago, but diesel is sending a very different message. The US diesel crack spread, the premium of ultra-low sulphur diesel futures over WTI, recently surged above $100 per barrel for the first time, reaching an intraday record of just over $102.00.