Key Points
- The British Pound after declining towards the 1.2845 level found support against the US Dollar.
- The GBPUSD pair is currently correcting higher, but faces a major hurdle near 1.2910 on the hourly chart.
- Recently in the UK, the Retail Sales for July 2017 was released by the National Statistics.
- The outcome was above the forecast, as there was an increase of 0.3% in sales (MoM).
GBPUSD Technical Analysis
The British Pound made a sharp downside move this week and traded towards the 1.2850-40 area against the US Dollar. The GBPUSD pair traded as low as 1.2844 and later started a correction.
It moved above the 1.2860 level, the 21 hourly simple moving average and the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the 1.3036 high to 1.2844 low.
At the moment, the pair is facing a major bearish trend line positioned at 1.2900-10 on the hourly chart. The 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last drop from the 1.3036 high to 1.2844 low is also at 1.2910. A break above 1.2910 is needed for sustained gains towards 1.2950.
UK’s Retail Sales
Today in the UK, the Retail Sales for July 2017 was released by the National Statistics. The market was positioned for an increase of 0.2% in sales compared with the previous month.
The actual result was above the forecast, as there was an increase of 0.3% in sales. In terms of the yearly change, there was a rise of 1.3% in sales, less than the forecast of +1.4%. The report added that:
The quantity bought increased by 1.3% compared with July 2016; the 51st consecutive year-on-year increase in retail sales since April 2013. Online sales increased year-on-year by 15.1% and by 0.3% on the month, accounting for approximately 16.0% of all retail spending.
Overall, the GBPUSD might struggle to trade above 1.2910, but would eventually move higher in the near term.
