- 58% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to BUY
- 64% of traders are bullish on the Pound (+2%)
- Significant support is located circa 1.32
- Upcoming events: BOE Credit Conditions Survey, US PPI and Core PPI m/m, US Unemployment Claims, FOMC Members Brainard and Powell to speak
The JOLTS survey showed that the number of the US job openings declined to 6.08M in August, from a downwardly revised figure of 6.14M in the prior month, facing negative impacts coming from the Hurricane Harvey.
Subsequent release of the Fed meeting minutes revealed that some central bankers remained concerned on persistently weak inflation growth, which is likely to determine the need of the interest rate hike.
US fundamentals in focus
The UK is to start this trading session with the Credit Conditions Survey by the Bank of England at 0830GMT. It continues with three sets of data released by the US at 1230GMT, namely the US Producer Price Index and Core Producer Price Index for the month of September and the weekly Unemployment Claims.
In addition, two members of the Federal Open Market Committee are to speak today at 1430GMT - the Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard is to participate in a panel discussion about monetary policy at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, while the Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell will deliver a speech titled "Prospects for Emerging Market Economies in a Normalizing Global Economy".
GBP/USD bypasses 200-hour SMA
In accordance with expectations, the currency exchange rate was consolidating before a release of the Fed meeting minutes. But as soon as this document was released, the pair expectedly sneaked through the 200-hour SMA and started to surge.
The fact that road to the south is obstructed not only by a combination of the 55- and 200-hour SMAs but also by the 100-hour SMA and the weekly PP suggests that the Greenback is unlikely to restore lost positions against the Pound even in case of better than expected US PPI data release.
Accordingly, traders with bullish outlook most probably are going to try to push the pair to the area between the 1.3300 mark and the monthly PP at the 1.3320 by the end of the week.
Hourly chart
The Pound continues to recover some ground against the US Dollar for the fourth consecutive session, and it seems that this appreciation could likewise continue until the end of this week, at least.
The trading range, however, has remained the same, as the rate is being stranded by the weekly R1 and the monthly PP from above and the weekly PP, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement and the 55-day SMA from below.
Daily chart
Bullish market sentiment slightly weakens
SWFX market sentiment is bullish on Thursday, as the number of long positions is 64% (+2%). In addition, 53% of pending orders are to buy the Pound (unchanged from Wednesday).
Market sentiment of OANDA traders has turned bullish on Thursday, as 52% of open positions are long (+2%). Meanwhile, traders at Saxo Bank are still increasingly bearish with 60% short positions (+4%).