GBP/USD: consolidated ahead of key employment data – FXStreet

By FXStreet FXStreet (Guatemala) – Valeria Bednarik, chief analyst at FXStreet explained that the GBP/USD pair has shown little progress this Tuesday, having traded in a tight 20 pips range for most of a day, and with a short lived spike up to 1.5144 being quickly erased.

Key Quotes:

“Overall, the sentiment towards the Pound remains negative after the latest BOE monetary policy meeting, pointing for a delay in the UK rate hike, beyond the first half of 2016 as initially suspected.

Anyway, the kingdom will release its latest employment data early Wednesday and expectations are of a steady unemployment rate of 5.4%, whilst 1.6K new people are expected to claim for unemployment benefits. Previous month figures were a huge disappointment, although wages remained strong. If the numbers are again below expectations, the GBP/USD pair can fall down to the 1.5000 figure, and even break below it.

Technically, the 1 hour chart shows that the technical readings maintain a neutral stance, with the price stuck around a flat 20 SMA and the technical indicators hovering around their mid-lines.

In the 4 hours chart, the price is unable to advance above a bearish 20 SMA, a few pips …read more

Source:: FX Street