- GBP/USD continues Thursday’s losses and falls towards the 1.2100 area heading into the close of the week.
- Friday’s initial bounce gave way to more red ink on the charts, with sterling bidders finding little support.
- UK wages and employment figures will be published on Tuesday.
GBP/USD continued to fall on Friday, with a slight intraday bounce to 1.2222, before falling back to weekly lows and touching 1.2122. With markets favoring the Dollar (USD) on Risk Aversion sparked by Federal Reserve (Fed) rate fears, the British Pound (GBP) is struggling to find a bid heading into Friday’s market close.
The GBP/USD pair rose steadily through the first half of the week, reaching a high of 1.2337, but the gains were short-lived after US inflation fueled the dollar’s decline on Thursday, causing it to slump. The GBP/USD pair returned to the red during the week.
There will be plenty of action next week for both the British Pound and the Dollar, with UK jobs numbers and US retail sales updating.
In the UK, the employment change in August is expected to moderate, from -207,000 to -195,000, while earnings (excluding bonuses) for the quarter to August will remain stable at 3.8%.
The UK jobs data will be followed by an appearance by Dr Swati Dhingra, head of economic policy at the Bank of England (BoE), and another round of 30-year bond auctions.
On the Dollar side, US retail sales for September are expected to experience a decline, from 0.6% to 0.2%, and Industrial production for the same period is also expected to fall from 0.4% to a scant 0.1%.
GBP/USD Technical Outlook
The GBP/USD pair has fallen 0.7% from the week’s opening bids, having reached 1.2100, and remains firmly off the week’s highs at 1.2337, down more than 1.6% from the maximum reached on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the pair surpassed the 200 hourly SMA near the main level of 1.2200, and the 50 hourly SMA causes the short-term average prices to accelerate declines, moving lower towards 1.2220 and preparing for a bearish crossover if markets do not stabilize sterling bids.
The daily candles also show the GBP/USD pair stuck firmly in bearish territory, with the lowest bids of 2023 near 1.1802. The 50-day SMA is set for a bearish crossover of the 200-day SMA near 1.2450, with the British pound well off the 2023 highs at 1.3142.
GBP/USD Hourly Chart
GBP/USD Daily Chart
GBP/USD Technical Levels
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
