GBP/USD spinning in place near 1.34 as Thursday sees little impact ahead of US jobless claims

Sterling continuing to trade near recent highs at the critical 1.3400 level as traders await meaningful data.
A thin UK schedule for Thursday will see extra focus given to US jobless claims as traders await Brexit developments.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The GBP/USD is cycling near the 1.3400 major psychological level ahead of the upcoming London session for Thursday, after peaking at 1.3438 in Asia trading, near Wednesday's highs.

The Sterling has been getting a boost from broader Greenback weakness, with market sentiment remaining steady after the GBP/USD pair bottomed out last week at a six-month low of 1.3204, and the pair's technical recovery has been a steady but limited affair, lifting a little over two hundred pips and closing higher for five of the last six trading days.

Thursday brings a limited showing on the economic calendar, with May's Halifax Housing Prices at 07:30 GMT, forecast at 2.0% for the month-on-month reading (last -3.1%) and 2.4% for the quarterly figures (last 2.2%). After that will be a speech from the Bank of England's (BoE) Ramsden, speaking at 15:00 GMT. With limited data on the UK docket, traders' focus will likely shift to the US Continuing and Initial Jobless Claims dropping at 12:30 GMT, expected at 1.738 million (last 1.726 million) and 225 thousand (last 221 thousand) respectively.

GBP/USD levels to watch

Sterling traders could be waiting for higher-impact Brexit news next week, leaving the GBP/USD to grapple with the 1.3400 key level, and as FXStreet's Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik noted, "the pair seems to be forming a round bottom and nearing a key resistance, the 1.3450 region, where it has multiple daily highs and lows from these last few months. A clear break of the resistance area is needed for the Pound to extend its gains, although investors may wait for next week data and Brexit news before taking firmer positions in the pair. Short term, and according to the 4 hours chart, the pair is developing above a firmly bullish 20 SMA, but still far below its 200 EMA, this last at 1.3525. Technical indicators have retreated within positive territory with uneven strength, as the Momentum nears its mid-line while the RSI holds near overbought readings, anyway not enough to suggest an upcoming downward move."

Support levels: 1.3395 1.3360 1.3320

Resistance levels: 1.3450 1.3490 1.3530

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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