GBP/USD – Pound Steady in Thin Trading

GBP/USD is stable on Monday, as the pair trades slightly below the 1.68 line. Trading is thin, with no major economic reports on the calendar. There are no US releases, and the sole UK event is the BRC Retail Sales Monitor, which will be released later in the day.

The British economy continues to move in the right direction. Last week’s PMIs releases were not quite as high as expected, but the readings pointed to continued expansion in the services, construction and manufacturing sectors. As widely expected, the BOE maintained its monetary course on Thursday, making no changes to interest rate levels or its asset purchase scheme. The benchmark interest rate remains at 0.50%, while QE continues to be pegged at 375 billion pounds. With the recovery deepening, there is increased speculation about a rate increase before the end of the year, but the BOE continues to insist that no action will be taken until 2015.

In the US, employment numbers were solid late last week. Unemployment Claims and Nonfarm Employment Change, both key indicators, met market expectations. Unemployment Claims came in at 312 thousand, slightly above the estimate of 309 thousand. Nonfarm Employment Change met modest expectations on Friday, adding 217 thousand new jobs. The estimate stood at 214 thousand. The Unemployment Rate stayed pegged at 6.3%, beating the estimate of 6.4%. Solid employment numbers add to the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will continue to trim its QE program, which it plans to wind up by the end of 2014.

GBP/USD for Monday, June 9, 2014

GBP/USD June 9 at 15:40 GMT

GBP/USD 1.6798 H: 1.6832 L: 1.6784

GBP/USD Technical

• GBP/USD is stable on Monday. The pair has been trading close to the 1.68 line for much of the day.
• 1.6825 is a weak resistance line. 1.6920 is stronger.
• 1.67 is providing strong support.
• Current range: 1.67 to 1.6825.

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 1.67, 16605, 1.6463, 1.6286 and 1.6198
• Above: 1.6825, 16920, 1.70 and 1.7192

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

GBP/USD is almost unchanged in Monday trading. This is consistent with the movement of the pair, as the pound is not showing much activity on Monday. A majority of the positions in the GBP/USD ratio are short, indicative of a trader bias towards the dollar moving higher.

GBP/USD is steady on Monday. The pair is unchanged in the North American session.

GBP/USD Fundamentals

• 23:01 British BRC Retail Sales Monitor.

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.