GBP/USD struggling to lift away from 1.3150 ahead of BoE rate call for Thursday

The GBP/USD is continuing to sink on bearish action into the week's swing lows.
The BoE's rate call today is guaranteed to be a non-starter, but traders will be keeping an eye out for hints about action in the 3rd quarter.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

The GBP/USD is continuing to slump in Wednesday's lows near 1.3150 as the US Dollar gets supported by rebounded US Treasury yields.

Thursday's big event is the Bank of England's (BoE) rate call, due at 11:00 GMT, and the central bank is widely expected to remain on hold on rates.

The BoE was knocked off their hawkish stance recently as a slump in economic figures for the UK's economy that was expected in the first quarter threatens to slip into the second half of the year.

Market hopes for a rate hike to come in the third quarter have begun to evaporate lately, but as analysts at TD Securities noted, “We expect the MPC to keep policy on hold and shy away from comments about market expectations of future rate hikes. But in reaffirming its view that the 2018 Q1 growth slowdown was temporary, markets might interpret that as a signal that an August hike is more likely."

GBP/USD levels to watch

Bearish pressure remains high on the Sterling heading into Thursday's London market session, and as FXStreet Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik pointed out, "as in the 4 hours chart, the pair retreated after testing a strongly bearish 20 SMA, while technical indicators remain within negative levels, the Momentum having already lost upward strength and the RSI at 40. The pair set a fresh 2018 low at the beginning of the day at 1.3146, with a downward acceleration through the level opening doors for a steeper slide toward the 1.3000 figure."

Support levels: 1.3145 1.3110 1.3070

Resistance levels: 1.3215 1.3250 1.3280

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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