- 63% of pending orders in the 100-pip range are to SELL
- Traders have become bullish with 51% long positions (-2%)
- Strong resistance near 1.3865
- Upcoming events: UK Manufacturing Production m/m, UK Goods Trade Balance, US Average Hourly Earnings m/m, US Non-Farm Employment Change, US Unemployment Rate
The US private sector created 235K jobs in the reported month, expanding at a slightly slower pace than in January.
At the same time, US non-farm employment change number still surpassed the February's forecast. Ahu Yildirmaz, the Vice President and Co-head of the ADP Research Institute, said that the US labor market is keeping its growth rate uninterrupted and that persistent gains have been seen in industries related to leisure, hospitality and retail.
Various fundamentals today
Friday's trading session will start with the British Manufacturing Production and Goods Trade Balance during January released at 0930GMT.
The other set of important data is published at 1330GMT, namely, the US Average Hourly Earnings, the Non-Farm Employment Change and the Unemployment Rate for the previous month.
GBP/USD falls down to 1.38
GBP/USD once again failed to surpass the 1.39 mark on Thursday, as the US Dollar strengthened in the global markets in response to the easing pressure over a trade war.As a result, the pair breached a strong two-day support formed by the 100– and 200-hour SMAs and the weekly and monthly PPs circa 1.3860 and plunged down to the 1.38 area. Thus, the Sterling was located near a three-month trend-line circa 1.3760 by Friday morning.
Even if some downward pressure prevailed in the market, it is not likely that this line is breached. In terms of upside potential, bulls should cap their gains near the massive resistance at 1.3860.
Fundamentals from both the US and the UK could introduce some volatility in the market, thus altering the steady pace apparent in the Asian session.
Hourly chart
The Sterling is trading in a 14-month channel against the US Dollar. In line with this pattern, the pair should continue its movement lower down to its lower boundary and the 100-day SMA circa 1.36.
In terms of this week, some short-term appreciation might still be possible.
Daily Chart
The market sentiment of SWFX traders is bullish today with 51% of open positions being long (-2%). Meanwhile, 54% of pending orders are to sell the Sterling (+3%).
The market sentiment of OANDA traders is bearish, as 53% of open positions are short (+2%). Saxo Bank clients share the same sentiment with 54% of short positions (-1%).
Spreads (avg, pip) / Trading volume / Volatility