- 53% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to SELL the Sterling
- SWFX market sentiment is 60% bullish
- Canadian and Oil data sets at 14:00 and 14:30 GMT
During the last few trading session the GBP/USD pair has continued to trade sideways between and around two hourly simple moving averages.
The British Pound strengthened against the Greenback, following the UK Service PMI data release on Wednesday at 08:30 GMT. The GBP/USD currency pair gained 25 pips, or 0.19%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.3209 area.
The Markit released the monthly UK Purchasing Managers' Index data that came out better-than-expected of 55.1, and also better from the previous period.
A currency analyst at TorFX Laura Parsons stands: "A combination of better-than-forecast UK construction data and worse-than-expected Eurozone retail sales figures kept the GBP/EUR exchange rate steady on Tuesday,"
Data sets not influencing the described pair
Wednesday is set to be busy for webinars, as the schedule is almost full for the day.
At 12:00 GMT the Dukascopy Analytics representatives will host an introduction to chart patterns tutoring webinar. It will be followed by the quick cover of last week's fundamental events.
Meanwhile, there will be data releases occurring the day, which will impact other currency pairs. Namely, the Reserve Bank of Canada will release their interest rate at 14:00 GMT. Afterwards at 14:30 GMT the US Crude Oil Inventories data release will take place.
GBP/USD trading sideways
The GBP/USD currency pair was moving sideways on Tuesday, being restricted by the 55-hour simple moving average from above and the combination of the 100-hour SMA and the monthly pivot point below.Given that the exchange rate has been trading sideways since yesterday, a breakout either direction is likely to occur within this session. Technical indicators suggest that bears are likely to grow strong.
If and when the aforementioned southern breakout occurs, it is likely to find support at the 200-hour SMA located near the 1.3215 mark.
Hourly chart
By reviewing the daily chart of the GBP/USD pair it was discovered that there exists a descending channel pattern that has been in action since the middle of April. The recent rebound managed to break this pattern.
Due to that reason it is assumed that there is a larger, dominant pattern lacking from the picture, as the already broken pattern has to be a junior representation of a larger price movement.
Daily Chart
This indicates that for the last couple of trading sessions nothing has changed. Retail traders remain bullish and some are even expecting to open more long positions, if the currency rate reaches certain criteria. For example, it breaks the resistance on the daily chart.
The bullish market sentiment of OANDA has remained intact, as 65% of its traders are holding long positions. Meanwhile, Saxo Bank clients are likewise bullish with 56% long positions.
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility