Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD is neutral-to-bullish trading above the 1.3100 figure

FXStreet Team FXStreet

GBP/USD Price Analysis: Bulls struggle near two-month top, 5-day SMA offers immediate support

GBP/USD recedes to 1.3160 during the initial hour of Tuesday’s Asian session. The pair refreshed the two-month peak on Monday but failed to stay positive beyond 1.3200.

However, bullish signals from the MACD joins strong RSI, not near the overbought region, favor the GBP/USD buyers to keep the optimism while targeting a resistance line stretched from September 10, at 1.3246 now. In doing so, a clear break above the recent high of 1.3208 becomes necessary.

While the quote is likely to post another U-turn from the mid-1.3200 area, any further upside can be challenged by the August 18 high near 1.3270, a break of which could challenge the yearly top surrounding 1.3485.

GBP/USD Forecast: Brexit returns to the limelight

The GBP/USD pair is ending the first day of the week unchanged around 1.3150, after reaching a fresh two-month high of 1.3207. The British Pound found eased as speculative interest rushed into the greenback on positive coronavirus vaccine news, but its slump was limited by encouraging Brexit headlines. UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said that significant progress was made in Brexit talks while announcing a plan to provide stability to the financial sector in the post-Brexit era. Meanwhile, EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said they are redoubling their efforts to reach an agreement on the future EU-UK partnership.

GBP/USD off highs, back to 1.3620

GBP/USD remains slightly on the defensive at the end of the week, receding to the low 1.3600s after hitting fresh tops past 1.3670 earlier in the day. Cable’s correction comes after two daily gains in a row and amid a tepid advance in the Greenback, while poor UK data also accompany the downside.

EUR/USD treads water below 1.1700

EUR/USD now trades with modest losses around 1.1670 following another unsuccessful atempt to advance past 1.1700 the figure in a convincing fashion. The pair’s decline follows a maginal rebound in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess recent US data as well as developments from the US bond market.

Gold trims gains, recedes to the sub-$4,600 area

Gold rapidly leaves behind Thursday’s inconclusive price action and advances markedly on Friday, briefly surpassing the $4,600 mark per troy ounce to hit three-month peaks. Meanwhile, the precious metal’s solid performance comes despite marginal gains in the buck coupled with another day of rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Week ahead: Fed’s Jackson Hole and Nvidia earnings to dictate markets

The new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh, has made few public appearances since taking the central bank helm in May, yet he’s found it difficult to steer off controversy. Question marks about his relations with the President, Donald Trump, continue to swirl, while markets are still trying to make sense of his approach to monetary policy.

CFTC Report: Oil positioning rebounds; VIX and Yen exposure turn more bearish

The week in one sentence: Speculative positioning turned more constructive in the week to August 18. WTI recorded the largest increase, followed by a sharp narrowing in CAD net shorts. VIX and JPY positioning moved the other way, while Gold remained the clearest crowded long despite a softer spot price.

$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.