GBP/USD Fundamental Analysis – week of April 16, 2018

The GBPUSD pair enjoyed a strong week over the course of last week and it is expected that the pair will continue to remain buoyant in the coming days as well as the pound seeks to move higher. The dollar has also been gaining in strength in a mild manner but it looks as though the focus seems to be on the pound which has been doing well in recent times.

GBPUSD Remains Buoyant

It was a week of a lot of global risk with the war in Syria getting escalated with more and more countries looking to join in. There does not seem to be any end to the war in sight and it looks as though the situation would only get worse in due course of time and it is indeed sad that the war has been driven more for political gains rather than for helping the people over there. Due to this, the dollar has been choppy as the US has got involved in the war on one hand and on the other hand, the dollar is viewed as one of the safe havens and hence likely to attract some buying.

This combination of factors is likely to keep the dollar busy and volatile in the coming days but we have been seeing the pound make some solid progress over the last couple of weeks despite the fact that the incoming data from the UK, including the PMI data, has been quite weak. But the BOE and its governor have been quite bullish about the economy and the progress in the Brexit process has also helped the pound to continue to trade in a steady manner.

Looking ahead to the coming week, we have the average earnings index data from the UK and the retail sales data from the US but the focus of the market is likely to be firmly on the war in Syria and how far it is going to escalate. We already have news that missiles have been launched in Syria by a range of countries including the US and hence we are likely to see the market begin in a volatile manner on Monday and continue to be so in the coming days as well.