- 58% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to SELL the Pound
- SWFX market sentiment is 52% bullish
- Upcoming fundamentals: US CB Consumer Confidence
Bullish sentiment is expected to prevail in this session.
The British Pound weakened against the Greenback, following the UK Retail Sales data release on Thursday. The GBP/USD currency pair lost 12 pips, or 0.09%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.4171 area.
The Office for National Statistics revealed lower-than-expected retail sales data for the month of March. Britain's sales volume declined by 1.2%, compared to 0.8% increase in the prior period.
One of the main reasons for such low consumer spending was due to the snow storms over the UK or as they call it: "Beast from the East", that discouraged people to go for a shopping, thus preventing the sales volume to increase to the forecast level.
Calm session
The only noteworthy data release in this session is Consumer Confidence published by the US Conference Board at 1400GMT.
GBP/USD breaches senior channel
Despite flashing bullish signals on Monday morning, the Sterling managed to maintain its downward-sloping movement throughout the day. As a result, it breached the senior channel, the monthly PP and the 38.20% Fibonacci retracement along the way. The pair had remained near the latter by the time of this analysis.It is expected that the 1.39 mark is not surpassed today, as bulls might want to re-gain some of their lost positions after the massive 3.19% plunge that started last Tuesday. In addition, technical indicators are likewise starting to converge.
The Sterling could find strong resistance at 1.4050 where the 55-hour SMA and the senior channel are located. This level should eventually be breached just to push the pair towards the 100-hour SMA and the weekly PP at 1.4150.
Hourly chart
The Sterling has been driven by strong downside potential during the previous five trading sessions. As a result, it breached the combined support of the 55-day SMA, the monthly PP and a trend-line circa 1.4020 earlier this week.
The rate is currently approaching the weekly S2, the 100-day SMA and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement near 1.3850. This level is likely to be breached, thus setting the senior channel and the monthly S1 at 1.3740 as the next two-week target.
Daily Chart
The SWFX market sentiment has turned bullish today, as 52% of open positions are long. Meanwhile, 56% of pending orders are to sell the Pound (+2%).
OANDA traders are once again bearish on the Pound with 51% of their open positions being short. Saxo Bank stands at equilibrium.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility