- 51% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to BUY
- 51% of traders are bullish on the Sterling
- Strong resistance area circa 1.3620
- Upcoming events: US NFIB Small Business Index, US JOLTS Job Openings, IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism
The British Pound rose slightly against the Greenback on the country's house price data. The GBP/USD exchange rate was up to the 1.3542 level, which was easily overstepped during the trading session.
The UK house prices declined unexpectedly in December to mark the first decline in six months, providing additional signs of slack in the country's property market. The mortgage lender Halifax stated that house prices fell 0.6% month-over-month in December, following a 0.3% gain in November. Analysts anticipate the market to decelerate further to draw Britain's house prices' growth of 0.1% in 2018, which would indicate property values declining in real terms, when adjusted for consumer price inflation.
Uneventful day
The economic calendar for this session includes several fundamental events with minor importance, namely, the US NFIB Small Business Index, US JOLTS Job Openings and IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism to be released at 1100GMT and 1500GMT, respectively. The publication time for the last one remains tentative.
GBP/USD falls but then returns to 1.3585
The British Pound is continuing to slowly advance against the Dollar in a one-month long ascending channel. New trading session the cable started above the combination of the weekly PP, the 55- and 100-hour SMAs, which are expected to provide support for further surge.
Accordingly, the weekly goal for the pair should be an area located between the psychological 1.3600 level and het monthly R1 at 1.3615.
However, it should be noticed that for the past three days the currency rate could not climb above the 1.3585 level, which might lead to a premature breakout from pattern especially in case of high volatility, such as on Friday.
Hourly chart
The Sterling has remained relatively stable against the US Dollar since the beginning of 2018. However, technical indicators suggest that the bearish sentiment might prevail this week, thus sending the pair towards the weekly S1 and the monthly PP at 1.3507 and 1.3459, respectively.
Daily chart
The SWFX sentiment remains bullish in this session, as 51% of traders are holding long positions for the third consecutive session. In addition, 54% of pending orders are to buy the Sterling (+2%).
Meanwhile, OANDA traders are bearish today with 57% short positions (unchanged from Monday). Saxo Bank clients share the same sentiment with 67% short positions (+1%).
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility