- The Swiss market is 59% bullish on the pair
- 63% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are set to SELL
- Minor US data on Thursday
Due to a fundamental event the GBP/USD has jumped. All technical levels were ignored by the currency rate during the bounce. However, on Thursday the situation had calmed down.
The British Pound appreciated against the US Dollar, following the UK Services PMI release on Wednesday at 08:30 GMT. The GBP/USD exchange currency rate gained 14 pips or 0.11% right after the release. The data release did not affect significantly the currency exchange rate. The rate continued trading at the 1.2820 level.
The Markit released UK Services PMI data, which came better-than-expected. The index was 54.3 compared with forecast 53.9.
The Markit comments: "Backlogs of work increased for the fourth month running in August, which pointed to sustained pressure on operating capacity at service sector companies. A number of firms linked rising volumes of unfinished business to difficulties replacing departing staff".
Minor US data during the day
Most major financial instruments will start suddenly bouncing around on US macroeconomic data releases on Thursday, as the ADP Non-Farm Employment Change will be released at 12:15 GMT and the ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI will be out at 14:00 GMT.
Moreover, it will continue into Friday. On Friday, at 12:30 GMT three US employment data sets will be published.
GBP/USD short term review
In regards the near term future, the rate is expected to decline down to the 61.80% Fibo at 1.2877, which should be supported by the 55-hour simple moving average. Afterwards the rate should pass these levels and head for the 1.2850 level.On the other hand, the British pound may use the support of the 55-hour simple moving average and the Fibo, to push back up above the 1.2900 mark.
Hourly Chart
With the recent bounce upwards a possible long term pattern in the borders of the most dominant descending pattern has been drawn. Although, note that it is a rather weak drawing and might not hold.
Meanwhile, note the strong resistance provided on the daily chart by the weekly and monthly pivot point levels at 1.2924 and 1.2946.
Daily chart
The Swiss trader sentiment remains largely bullish. Namely, traders of the Swiss Foreign Exchange were long in 59% of all of their open positions.
In the meantime, trader set up orders, which indicate where the rate most likely will go next, are set to sell the pair in 53% of all cases. This fact indicates that the retail traders are undecided in regards to the pair's short term future.
Meanwhile, OANDA traders remain largely bullish, as 68% of open positions are long at the brokerage. In the meantime, traders at SAXO Bank are 57% long on the GBP/USD pair.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility