The GBP/USD has broken a cluster of strong technical resistance levels at the 1.2900 level. The break out resulted in a quick jump to the 1.3000 mark.
Afterwards, the 1.3000 level managed to force a retreat of the rate back down to the levels just above the 1.2900 mark. For a future outlook look at the technical analysis sections below.
The British Pound appreciated against the US Dollar, following the UK Retail Sales data released on Friday at 09:30 GMT. The GBP/USD exchange currency rate gained 8 pips or 0.06% during a minute, right after the release. The British Pound continued trading at the 1.2940 area against the US Dollar.
The Office for National Statistics released UK Retail Sales data that came out lower- than-expected of negative 0.9%, compare to forecasted negative 0.8%.
The head of inflation at the ONS, Mike Hardie, said: "Inflation eased mainly due to a big fall in petrol, with oil prices tumbling in recent months."
The Office for National Statistics noted: "In the three months to December 2018, estimates in the quantity bought decreased by 0.2% with declines across all main sectors except fuel. Looking at annual growth rates, the whole of 2018 increased by 2.7% in the quantity bought; an annual slowdown in comparison with the peak of 4.7% experienced in 2016."
The week has ended
On Friday, one data release is left to be watched.The biggest event of the will occur at 13:30. The Canadian CPI will be published. On the USD/CAD there are 30 pip moves even when it hits the forecast. When the data is different there have been 40-85 pip moves.
GBP/USD short term review
During Thursday's trading session, the currency exchange rate broke the upper boundary of the medium pattern line at the 1.2908 mark. Note, due to that fact, the pattern was corrected!In regards to the near-term future, most likely, the British Pound will continue appreciating against the US Dollar towards the 1.3000 level. Besides, the 55-hour and the 100-hour SMAs will support the surge during the day.
However, the British Pound could depreciate against the US Dollar at any time due to uncertainty with the Brexit deal. Stay tuned to the latest news!
Hourly Chart
On the daily chart the next notable cluster of resistance is located at the 1.3060 level. At that level the rate is set to face the monthly R2, weekly R3 pivot points and the 200-day simple moving average.
Meanwhile, the technical levels at the 1.2900 level have begun to support the currency pair.
Daily chart
Meanwhile, trader set up pending orders in the 100-base point range were still in the neutral zone. 53% of pending orders were set to buy the pair.
Although on Friday the sentiment was close to being neutral, it was no longer perfectly balanced, as there were traders who wanted to take advantage of a decline following a sudden surge.