- 63% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to SELL
- 61% of traders are bullish on the Pound (+1%)
- Nearest resistance is located circa 1.3240
- Upcoming events: UK Retail Sales m/m, US Unemployment Claims, US Philly Fed Manufacturing Index
The Sterling was suffering the third straight day of weakness against the US Dollar on mixed job data for Britain yesterday morning. On the report, GBP/USD fell 28 pips or 0.21% to the 1.3159 mark, though the currency pair managed to return into the green area, offsetting losses to start Thursday session near the 1.3220 mark.
The Office for National Statistics' release showed that unemployment claims rose more than estimated by 1.7K in August, while the jobless rate remained unchanged at 4.3% in the same period. Relatively robust employment picture fell short to be translated into strong pay growth, which continued to squeeze the UK consumers and complicated the BoE plans to make interest rate hike.
UK Retail Sales, US Unemployment Claims
Three sets of fundamentals are scheduled for this trading session. The UK is to start the day with its Retail Sales for September published at 0830GMT.
Meanwhile, the Unites States is to release weekly Unemployment Claims and the Philadelphia Fed business Outlook Survey at 1230GMT.
GBP/USD prepares for another data release
Due to release of mixed British employment data, the pair did not get an impulse to make significant moves yesterday. In particular, this relates to three unsuccessful attempts made by bears to push the rate through the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at 1.3145. As a result, the Cable started this trading session at the intersection of the 55- and 200-hour SMAs.
At the moment, the further recovery of the Pound against the Dollar seems complicated, as northern direction is blocked not only by a combination of the weekly PP and the 100-hour SMA but also by the upper trend-line of a senior descending channel.
However, a release of better-than-expected data on retail sales might create a momentum that would help traders push the pair either through these barriers or in the opposite direction.
Hourly chart
Despite bears pushing the rate down to the 1.3150 mark, the Sterling managed to close the Wednesday's trading session with slight gains. As a result, the British currency has not changed its positioning against the Greenback and remains between the weekly PP at 1.3224 as resistance and a combined support set by the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement, the 55-day SMA and the weekly S1 circa 1.3140 early on Thursday.
Daily chart
Bulls become stronger
The bullish SWFX market sentiment has increased by 1 percentage point on Thursday, thus currently standing at 61%. In addition, 53% of pending orders are to buy the pair (-1%).
The bearish sentiment of OANDA traders has remained unchanged in this session, as 51% of open positions are short. In addition, Saxo Bank clients are still in favour of a fall, as the number of short positions is 61% (+1%).