Yahoo Finance GBP/USD Daily Price Forecast – GBP/USD Aims For 1.276 Handle Ahead of UK Retail Sales Data
The GBP/USD is trading near the 1.273 level ahead of Thursday’s London market session as fears of a no-deal Brexit continue to rise and inflation figures for the UK barely make it to expectations. The UK’s CPI reading yesterday came in at 2.5%, struggling to meet market expectations, while wages only rose at an annualized rate of 2.4% for the quarter into June, which makes the Bank of England’s (BOE) case for rate hikes a difficult one to make, even though the UK’s central bank pace of rate hikes, currently expected to be around one rate lift per year for several years, is far below what most market participants had been hoping for only a few months ago. UK ministers are beginning to ask constituents if they still want to go ahead with Brexit, which is beginning to look more like an economic hazard.
Pound Edges Up on USD Sell Off in Global Market
Alistair Burt, an experienced Foreign Office minister, has been collecting voters’ views for weeks, asking how they would vote in another nationwide poll. A form on his website asks them: “Do you support a further vote on the referendum?” Constituents are also asked what the vote would cover. Four options are offered: A vote on the final deal; a re-run of the original referendum with in/ out choices; three choices – a “soft” Brexit, a “hard” Brexit or no Brexit; or no further vote. Prime Minister Theresa May has categorically ruled out a fresh vote on Brexit and insisted Britain will leave the EU on 29 March 2019. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has also confirmed he is not calling another referendum.
Moving forward investors of GBP are focusing on Retail Sales figures, dropping at 08:30 GMT today. Sterling traders are hoping that the m/m Retail Sales figures for July manage to climb by just 0.2% compared to the previous month’s -0.5% decline, while the y/y figure for July are expected to tick up from 2.9% to 3.0%. US Greenback which was strong following increase in demand over Turkish crisis was supported by better than expected macro data release, however there has been a pullback in US Greenback’s price action across major global currencies in Asian market hours today as risk appetite returned to market following news of Sino-US trade talks scheduled later this month.
The GBP/USD pair continues to struggle to find a bullish foothold despite being buried deep into bearish territory with little to no pullback. Technically, the pair is down for a second consecutive day, and still bearish according to technical readings in the 4 hours chart, as the pair keeps developing below a firmly bearish 20 SMA, while technical indicators continue to move back and forth within negative levels, lacking directional strength at the time being. Expected support and resistance for the pair are at 1.2665, 1.2620, 1.2575 and 1.2760, 1.2795, 1.2820 respectively.
This article was originally posted on FX Empire
