GBP/USD – Little Change As US, UK Manufacturing PMIs Dip

The pound has posted slight losses on Tuesday, as the GBP/USD trades in the mid-1.66 range in the North American session. In economic news, manufacturing data on both sides of the pond disappointed the markets. British Manufacturing PMI missed its estimate, as did the ISM Manufacturing PMI in the US.

In the UK, PMI Manufacturing dropped to its lowest level since June, coming in at 55.3 points. This was short of the estimate of 56.7 points. In the US, ISM Manufacturing PMI improved slightly, with a reading of 53.7 points. This missed the estimate of 54.2 points. As well, Final Manufacturing PMI slipped to 55.5 points and missed the forecast of 55.9 points.

On Monday, Fed chair Janet Yellen said that “considerable slack” remained in the US economy and this would require further stimulus measures. Currently, the Fed is purchasing $55 billion in assets under its QE scheme. There have been three tapers to QE so far, and Yellen plans to wind up the program in the fall, provided that the US economy does not run into any serious turbulence. At the same time, the Federal Reserve has stated that it has no plans to raise interest rates until sometime in 2015.

GBP/USD for Tuesday, April 1, 2014

GBP/USD April 1 at 16:20 GMT

GBP/USD 1.6648 H: 1.6675 L: 1.6618

GBP/USD Technical

• GBP/USD has posted slight losses on Tuesday. The pair touched a high of 1.6675 early in the European session.
• On the downside, 1.6549 is a strong support level.
• 1.6705 continues to provide resistance. This is followed by resistance at 1.6765.
• Current range: 1.6549 to 1.6705.

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1.6549, 1.6416, 1.6329, 1.6236 and 1.6146
• Above: 1.6705, 1.6765, 1.6896 and 1.6964

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

GBP/USD ratio is unchanged on Tuesday. This is not consistent with what we are seeing from the pair, as the pound has edged lower. A large majority of the open positions in the GBP/USD ratio are short, indicative of a trader bias towards the dollar moving higher against the pound.

The pound is trading quietly in the mid-1.66 range. GBP/USD has edged higher in the North American session.

GBP/USD Fundamentals

• 8:30 British Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 55.3 points. Actual 56.7 points.
• 13:45 US Final Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 55.9 points. Actual 55.5 points.
• 14:00 US ISM Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 54.2 points. Actual 53.7 points.
• 14:00 US Construction Spending. Estimate 0.2%. Actual 0.1%.
• 14:00 US IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism. Estimate 46.3 points. Actual 48.0 points.
• 14:00 US ISM Manufacturing Prices. Estimate 59.2 points. Actual 59.0 points.
• All Day – US Total Vehicle Sales. Estimate 15.8M.

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

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