- 56% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to SELL
- 51% of open positions are bearish
- Notable support located circa 1.3540
- Upcoming events: UK Construction PMI, ISM Manufacturing PMI, FOMC Meeting Minutes
The GBP/USD currency pair was little changed on the report, while remaining under bullish sentiment to head for the 1.3600 mark. The Sterling ignored weaker than expected UK Manufacturing PMI data, but remained relatively strong against the US Dollar.
Britain's manufacturing sector grew at a weaker pace in December, following four-year high reached in the prior month, while still remaining a bright spot in the UK economy heading to 2018. In contrast to solid expansion in the Euro zone, the HIS Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI for Britain fell to 56.3 in the reported month. The PMI remained above its yearly average for a whole 2017, despite some cooling in new business, export orders, output and employment growth.
FOMC Meeting Minutes
Wednesday's trading session will start with the British Construction PMI for the month of December to be released at 0930GMT.
Meanwhile, the US Institute for Supply Management will publish its Manufacturing PMI for the same period at 1500GMT. The last fundamental for the day is the FOMC Meeting Minutes scheduled for 1900GMT.
GBP/USD consolidates near 1.36
The Sterling continued to strengthen against the US Dollar on Tuesday, thus ending the day with an 81-pip gain. This session, however, mark some changes to this bullish sentiment, as the pair has been trading sideways in a narrow range below the monthly R1.
It seems that this minor period of consolidation could be an early indication to a possile change in the market sentiment, at least for today. In addition, technical indicators are gradually retracing from their high positions.
In general, this session might mark high volatility due to various fundamentals to be released today. A strong support area is located circa 1.3530, while a breakout of the monthly R1 would send the pair for a test of the weekly R2 at 1.3667.
Hourly chart
GBP/USD ended Tuesday's session strong with a 81-pip gain, but nevertheless failing to remain above the weekly R1. This mark was surpassed early in this session.
Technical indicators on the daily timeframe are in favour of a fall during the following trading sessions. Even if the Sterling closes this session with gains, they are likely to be limited.
Daily chart
The market sentiment has changed to bearish on Wednesday, as 51% of open positions are now to sell the Sterling. Meanwhile, 56% of pending orders are to buy the Sterling (unchanged from Tuesday).
OANDA traders are bearish today with 55% short positions, compared to 52% on Tuesday. Saxo Bank clients share the same sentiment with 67% short positions (+3%).
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility