GBPUSD hovers at five-month low, focus on UK Inflation, BoE’s Bailey
GBPUSD traders lick their wounds at the lowest level in five months early Wednesday as the monthly UK inflation data, namely the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and a speech from Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey loom. Apart from the pre-data anxiety, the oversold RSI (14) also challenges the Pound Sterling sellers at a multi-day bottom. With this, the corrective bounce can aim for the 50% Fibonacci retracement of the Cable’s run-up from September 2023 to March 2024, close to 1.2465, if backed by upbeat UK data and hawkish comments from BoE’s Bailey. It’s worth noting, however, that an ascending resistance line from early December, previous support around 1.2545, will precede the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) level of 1.2565 to test the buyers afterward. Above all, a convergence of the 50-EMA and a five-week-old downward-sloping trend line, near 1.2625 at the latest, appears a tough nut to crack for the bulls before retaking control.
On the contrary, downbeat UK inflation clues and BoE Governor Bailey’s failure to convince policy hawks could join the bearish MACD signals to exert downside pressure on the GBPUSD pair. In that case, a horizontal area comprising lows marked in November 2023, close to 1.2370-75, will lure the Pound Sterling bears. Following that, the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement and October 2023 peak, respectively near 1.2365 and 1.2330, could test the sellers. In a case where the quote remains weak past 1.2330, the odds of witnessing a southward trajectory toward the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement and then to the previous yearly low, near 1.2220 and 1.2035 in that order, can’t be ruled out.
Overall, GBPUSD bears appear running out of steam but the road toward the north appears long and bumpy.
