The British Pound is closely tied to the Euro, and didn’t manage to close higher. The upcoming week has many important events that will shake the Pound. Here’s an outlook for those events and an updated technical analysis for GBP/USD.
GBP/USD graph with support and resistance lines marked. Click to enlarge:
Britain’s growth rate for the first quarter of 2010 was upgraded to 0.3%, but this didn’t seem to help the Pound. After a bank holiday on Monday, we have British figures coming in every day. Let’s start:
- Halifax HPI: Publication time unknown at the moment. This is a highly regarded house price index, as HBOS calculates the changes in prices using its wide internal data. After many months of rises, prices became more unstable. A drop in prices three months ago was followed by a neat rise, but last month’s drop undermined the thought that the drop wasn’t a one time event. The forecast is for a small rise of 0.3%.
- Manufacturing PMI: Published on Tuesday at 8:30 GMT. Purchasin managers in Britain’s manufacturing sector are quite optimistic – the index rose to 58 points last month – the highest level sine the outbreak of the financial crisis, and it also beat expectations. This survey of 600 managers is likely to drop this time, but remain above 50 – the line that separates optimism and pessimism.
- Net Lending to Individuals: Published on Wednesday at 8:30 GMT. After a few strong months, the Bank of England showed that borrowing dropped to 0.6 billion, from the highs of 2 billion. This indicates a more cautious attitude from consumers. This trend will probably continue, and a negative figure won’t be surprising.
- Construction PMI: Published on Wednesday at 8:30 GMT. The second purchasing managers’ release for this week concerns the housing sector. Also here, a big leap was seen last month to 58.2 points. These numbers follow many months of scores under 50, so this fast jump might be followed with a downside correction.
- Nationwide HPI: Published on Thursday at 6:00 GMT. This important house price index fell only in one month and then returned to strong rises. This is different than the Halifax HPI. But this time, prices are expected to rise by only 0.5%, half of last month’s rise.
- Services PMI: Published on Thursday at 8:30 GMT. The last PMI figure is different from the first two. It fell in the past two months, and isn’t at record numbers anymore. From 55.3 points last month, the forecast is for a small rise to 55.6 points.
GBP/USD Technical Analysis
Cable began the week with a dip towards this year’s low of 1.4227, but remained far enough. A rally sent all the way to 1.4611, but these gains didn’t hold, and the pair closed at 1.4451, not far from last week’s close.
Some lines have changed since last week’s outlook. The Pound’s range is now between 1.44, a minor support line, and 1.4520, a pivotal line in the past week. It’s quite far from stronger lines.
Looking up, the stubborn peak of 1.4611 provides the next resistance line for the pair. This is followed by 1.4780, a very important line that stopped the previous collapse of the Pound, and now works as a resistance line.
Higher, 1.4975 is another minor line, and it’s followed by 1.5140, which worked as a strong support line, before the recent collapse. The next lines are 1.5350 and 1.5520, but they’re quite far away now.
Looking down, the 2010 low of 1.4227 is a strong line of support. It was approached several times, and wasn’t breached. Not yet. The next support line is quite close – 1.4130, serving as a support line at the beginning of 2009.
Even lower, 1.38 also worked as a support line at the beginning of 2009. Below, 1.3514 is the ultimate line of support, being the lowest level in over two decades. This is still very far.
I remain bearish on GBP/USD.
The European debt issues have a very strong impact on Britain. The Pound will probably suffer from the deteriorating situation. The contagious disease is on the doorstep of the UK.
Further reading:
- For a broad view of all the week’s major events worldwide, read the forex weekly outlook.
- For the Euro/Dollar, look into the EUR USD Forecast.
- For the British Pound (sterling), read the GBP/USD forecast.
- For the Australian dollar (Aussie), check out the AUD/USD forecast.
- For the New Zealand dollar (kiwi), read the NZD/USD forecast.
- For USD/CAD (loonie), check out the Canadian dollar forecast.
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