GBP/USD – Pound Just Keeps on Rolling

The British pound took a brief weekend break, but didn’t miss a step as it continues to post gains against the US dollar. In Monday’s North American session, GBP/USD is trading in the mid-1.53 range. In today’s only US release, Existing Home Sales was a disappointment, dropping to a two-month low. There are no British releases on Monday.

Last week, the pound posted sharp gains for the second consecutive week, and didn’t let tepid numbers out of the UK get in the way of its rally against the dollar. British Retail Sales posted a very small gain, while Public Sector Net Borrowing missed the estimate. In contrast, the US posted strong employment and manufacturing data on Thursday, but this didn’t impede the pound’s ascent. GBP/USD has gained over five cents in the past 10 days, as it continues to recover from a terrible slide that started in mid-June.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 countries concluded a meeting in Moscow on the weekend. The G20 released a statement saying that future changes to monetary policy would be “carefully calibrated and clearly communicated”. This is likely a hint to the recent market turmoil in response to statements from the Federal Reserve regarding possible QE tapering. The Fed has not always sounded consistent, and predictably, the resulting uncertainty has rattled the markets. Leaders of the G20 will meet in St. Petersburg in September, and a final draft statement from the Moscow meeting noted that a plan to increase jobs and growth and rebalance debt will be ready for the September meeting.

Over in the US, Federal Reserve chair Bernard Bernanke was at center stage on Wednesday and Thursday, as he testified before Congress. However, Bernanke did not add anything we haven’t heard before, and his testimony was not a market-mover by any means. Bernanke reiterated that the Fed’s monetary policy would remain accommodative, and added that the Fed’s bond-buying program was “not on a preset course”. This vague statement leaves the Fed plenty of wiggle room to scale down QE should it choose to do so. Bernanke reiterated that any decision to scale down QE would depend on improving economic conditions. He noted that present US unemployment levels (7.6%) were “well above” normal levels, and was careful to stay away from presenting any specific time deadlines for scaling down QE. So, the message from the Fed to the markets seems to be that QE tapering is not on the table before the economy improves and unemployment falls.

 

GBP/USD for Monday, July 22, 2013

Forex Rate Graph 15/1/13

GBP/USD July 22 at 15:10 GMT

GBP/USD 1.5359 H: 1.5384 L: 1.5264

 

GBP/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
1.5111 1.5203 1.5309 1.5432 1.5527 1.5645

 

GBP/USD continues to climb higher in Monday trading. The pair flexed some muscle early in the European session and pushed above the 1.53 level. GBP/USD is receiving support at 1.5309. This is not a strong line, and could face pressure if the dollar fights back. The next support line is at 1.5203, protecting the 1.52 line. On the upside, the pair faces resistance at 1.5432. This line has held firm since late June. Will the pound continue its sharp rise and put pressure on this line? This is followed by resistance at 1.5527.

  • Current range: 1.5309 to 1.5432

 

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 1.5309, 1.5203, 1.5111, 1.5000, 1.4896 and 1.4781
  • Above: 1.5432, 1.5527, 1.5645 and 1.5756

 

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

GBP/USD ratio is pointing to movement towards short positions. With the pound continuing to post strong gains on Monday, it is likely that some long positions have been covered, resulting in a greater proportion of open short positions. Since the pound started its sharp rally about 10 days ago, the ratio has see  a strong shift towards short positions, and we now find that the ratio is almost split evenly.

The pound continues to post gains against the dollar, and has gained to close to one cent on Monday. We could see the pair continue to trade in the mid-1.53 range during the day.

 

GBP/USD Fundamentals

14:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 5.27M. Actual 5.08M.

 

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

 

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.