GBPUSD news - page 76

 

GBP/USD: Cable Hovers Near Cycle Lows, Remains Vulnerable Cable posted fresh eight-month lows on Tuesday, when it dropped below the $1.48 mark for the first time since April. It was trading only slightly higher on Wednesday and was spotted around $1.4820, with further weakness likely in the near future.

According to the Nationwide building society, house prices notably accelerated in December, from 0.1% to 0.8% month-on-month, which pushed the yearly change higher from 3.7% to 4.5%. Sterling stayed unmoved after the data.

"However, as we look ahead to 2016, the risks are skewed towards a modest acceleration in house price growth, at least at the national level, despite the likelihood of interest rate increases from the middle of next year," Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said.

From the US dollar point of view, consumer confidence for December notably improved from an upwardly revised 92.6 to 96.5, while the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices came out mixed, causing no market reaction.

More data will come on Thursday, including US jobless claims along with the Chicago PMI for December, which should tick higher from 48.7 to 50.0 and should end up in expansion territory.

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GBP/USD: Sterling Edges Up, Awaits US Data To Set Tone The British pound rose moderately against its US peer during the last session of the week and year, as markets remained on the sidelines amid no news fundamentals and limited trading activity heading into the New Year celebrations.

Sterling gained 0.22% to $1.4844 versus the US dollar during the early European session on Thursday.

With no new macro data on the pound's side, investors now await a fresh set of US economic releases for further momentum, including the weekly jobless claims and Chicago PMI.

Among wider triggers for sterling, markets concentrate on looming Brexit concerns and the Bank of England's (BoE) outlook on interest rates.

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GBP/USD forecast for the week of January 4, 2016 The GBP/USD pair broke down during the course of the week, showing significant bearishness as we broke down below the bottom of the hammer from the previous week. With that being the case, the market looks as if it is trying to reach down towards the 1.45 handle, which of course is a large, round, psychologically significant number and the scene of the most recent bounce on the longer-term charts. At this point in time, and the fact that we close towards the bottom of the range, it appears that the British pound is going to continue to drift lower against the US dollar.

The US dollar of course is very strong in general, so it’s not a huge surprise to think that this pair would drop. The real question then becomes whether or not the 1.45 level can keep this market afloat. The 1.45 level should give way though, as the longer-term charts seem to favor the 1.40 level as a potential site of a reversal.

With this, we believe that the beginning of the year will be bearish, but be aware the fact that the 1.45 level could cause a little bit of a bounce. That bounce will be short-lived in our opinion though, and that the 1.50 level will continue to be the “ceiling” in this market. In fact, we believe that it will be quite some time before the 1.50 level gets broken to the upside, so we believe that this market is either going to be full of sellers, or short-term traders, as we do not see a scenario in which a longer-term move higher happens.

The one caveat of course could be if the Federal Reserve decides that he cannot raise interest rates anymore, but at this point in time we don’t have any information suggesting this. The Bank of England could start raising interest rates, but they seem to be quite a way from doing that as the European economy is putting a bit of an anchor around the neck of the British economy.

 

GBP/USD: Pound Defends Daily Highs After Weak UK PMI The UK's pound bounced from its overnight low below the $1.47 handle, which was the lowest level since mid April 2015. Sterling cheered the weakness in the US dollar and turned back to gains, while worse UK manufacturing PMI data had little impact on the currency.

Amid PMI releases from across the euro zone and China, the UK also contributed with its latest set of numbers. UK manufacturing disappointed markets, coming in below estimates at 51.9 in December, while November's reading was revised downward to 52.5. Market consensus for December had expected 52.8. However, the sector has remained in expansion territory for the 33rd consecutive month.

The pound hit its fresh 8-month low of $1.4693 during the early hours of the first trading day of 2016. Following the market open on Monday, the pound was already seen 0.24% higher at $1.4768.

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Byron Wein says EUR/USD will hit 1.20 this year Byron Wein releases his annual 10 surprises Investor Byron Wein used to be a well-known market pundit but now the 82-year-old only makes an appearance once a year to issue his annual 10 market surprises forecast.

He's out with his latest and it includes a bit of forex.

"4. The weak American economy and the soft equity market cause overseas investors to reduce their holdings of American stocks. An uncertain policy agenda as a result of a heated presidential campaign further confuses the outlook. The dollar declines to 1.20 against the euro."

 

GBP/USD: Pound Quickly Approaches 2015 Lows Sterling was unable to escape from the bearish mood as risk aversion has started to dominate global markets.

During the first three trading days of 2016, the British FTSE100 lost 3%, as several global issues keep investors on the back foot. The primary concerns include tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran, a North Korean bomb test and China's economic slowdown, while oil prices continued their recent freefall, with Brent crude hitting its lowest levels since 2004.

Following the market open on Thursday, sterling started its fourth session of losses, falling as low as to $1.4583, quickly approaching its 2015 lows of $1.4566 seen last April. The cable currency pair was seen 0.26% lower at $1.4592 on Thursday.

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It’s Going From Bad To Worse For GBP Bulls Another crash in Chinese equities has hit risk sentiment across the board, leading to a big safe-haven bid as we move through Thursday’s US trading session. Unfortunately for GBP bulls, the pound appears to be one of the biggest casualties once again.

Economic data out of the UK was actually decent, if not particularly important, this morning: the country’s Halifax Bank of Scotland Home Price Index rose by a healthy 1.7% m/m, easily exceeding expectations of a 0.5% rise. Before you go popping champagne bottles though, note that this report is historically volatile on a month-by-month basis and housing prices are frankly not something traders are watching closely right now anyway.

Indeed when it comes to GBP/USD, it feels as if traders are only focused on the recent downtrend. For months, we’ve been highlighting the long-term rounded top pattern that formed over the second half of 2015. Throughout that period, GBP/USD traded in a consistent pattern, dropping to a marginal new low before rallying 300-500 pips to just below the most recent high and rolling over to set a new marginal low once again.

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GBP/USD forecast for the week of January 11, 2016 The GBP/USD pair initially tried to rally during the course of the week, but then fell hard in order to reach all the way down to the 1.45 handle. That is an area that is massively supportive do to the fact that it is a psychologically significant number, but if we can break down below there, the market should continue to go much lower. If we break down below there, we anticipate that the market should then reach towards the 1.40 level given enough time. Rallies at this point in time should end up being selling opportunities.

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Good move last week!

 

Cable hits fresh lows after weak UK production data GBPUSD now down through 1.4500 and posting fresh 5 1/2 lows of 1.4483

The weaker industrial and mftg data was the trigger for accelerated falls but we're also seeing USD demand with EURUSD down around 1.0850 and USDJPY up to 117.70 and USDCHF back around 1.0000.

Stronger European equity markets the driver with DAX now up +1.41%

EURGBP jumped from 0.7478 to 0.7494 but still finding it tough to hold above 0.7500 albeit with good demand into 0.7450.

GBPUSD with decent demand/support around 1.4480 but rallies into 1.4550 will find sellers.

There's a lot of blink-and-you-miss-it movement right now as markets try and second guess China/equities and subsequent risk-on/risk-off sentiment.

New traders are advised to trade with caution

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