Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD pauses after sell-off on Middle East crisis

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GBP/USD pauses after sell-off on Middle East crisis inspired USD haven demand

GBP/USD stalls and seesaws between tepid gains and losses in the 1.3280s on Wednesday after falling a whole cent on the previous day, when the US Dollar (USD) strengthened as a result of a rise in safe-haven flows due to an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

Despite recent losses, the GBP/USD is in an overall uptrend, which has seen it gain almost 5.0% from the early August lows. Read more...

GBP/USD Forecast: Pound Sterling could stretch lower in case 1.3250 support fails

GBP/USD turned south on Tuesday and lost nearly 0.7% on a daily basis. The pair edges higher toward 1.3300 in the European session on Wednesday but the technical outlook is yet to highlight a buildup of recovery momentum.

Following a bullish start to the week, the US Dollar (USD) continued to gather strength on Tuesday, forcing GBP/USD to push lower. The risk-averse market atmosphere amid escalating geopolitical tensions helped the USD outperform its rivals. Meanwhile, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the number of job openings on the last business day of August stood at 8.04, up from 7.71 million in July and above the market expectation of 7.65 million, further supporting the USD. Read more...

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AUD/USD breaks below 0.7000 ahead of inflation data

AUD/USD has accelerated its downward trend on Tuesday, breaching below the key 0.7000 yardstick ahead of the opening bell in Asia on Wednesday. Indeed, spot has retreated for the second day in a row despite the hawkish hike by the RBA early on Tuesday and in response to the continuation of the move higher in the Greenback. Looking ahead, all the attention will be on the release of Australia’s inflation data on Wednesday.

USD/JPY consolidates near 157.50 as a bullish USD counters intervention risks

USD/JPY struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from a one-week low, consolidating around 157.50 in the Asian session on Tuesday. Trump's concerns about the Japanese Yen's weakness fueled speculation about another US-Japan joint intervention. This, along with the hawkish BoJ, underpins the JPY and caps the currency pair. Meanwhile, rising Fed rate-hike bets and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year highs, keeping the US Dollar pinned near a two-month high and supporting the pair.

Gold trims gains; back toward $4,150

Gold now surrenders some of its initial advance and retests the $4,150 zone per troy ounce on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the move higher in the yellow metal comes despite the firmer US Dollar and rising US Treasury yields across the board, while escalating geopolitical tensions appear to limit the downside potential.

XRP advances within a robust technical structure

Ripple (XRP) shows signs of stabilizing after reclaiming support at $1.50 on Tuesday. A robust technical structure underpins the token’s short to medium-term bullish outlook. Still, XRP is not out of the woods yet, as profit-taking and buyer exhaustion could weigh on price action and extend the recent correction from September highs around $1.66.

RBA recap: Rate hikes are on the table as demand stays too strong

The Reserve Bank of Australia unanimously tightened monetary policy, warning that inflation remained too high and that several upside risks had begun to materialise. Governor Michele Bullock said the Board would raise rates again if necessary.

Silver is more volatile than Gold ahead of PCE and NFP. This chart shows the positioning gap

The market’s attention is focused on American data this week, but there’s something only those with a trained eye may be looking at: Gold and Silver positioning gap. Financial markets are moving on fears, mostly related to persistently high energy prices driven by the Middle East war. Sure, the US Dollar (USD) is strong, but at what cost?