GBP/USD Price Forecast – British Pound Rangebound Post Recovery From Overnight Declines

The GBPUSD pair opened for the week on a positive note and saw a sharp upside move during Asian market hours posting solid gains. However, concerns surrounding Brexit proceedings capped gains resulting in the pair losing all gains made early in the day and falling below 1.3200 handle during European market hours. News hit the market that UK House of Commons speaker John Bercow had denied government’s motion for the third vote on UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal stating that same deal cannot be submitted for the vote unless major changes are made since lawmakers had already rejected the vote.

Macro Data Updates Eyed For Short Term Directional Cues

However, hopes that EU members will agree to the UK’s request for the extension of Brexit deadline helped the pair recover from intra-day declines and settle well above 1.3200 handle as the trading session came to close for the day. The pair saw consolidative price action during the Asian market session today well above mid-1.32 handle which was scaled during Pacific-Asian market hours.  As of writing this article, GBPUSD pair is trading at 1.3275 up by 0.08% on the day. Investors are now on the lookout for macro data filled calendar and US FOMC update for short term profit opportunities while major focus still remains on EU members meeting later this week over their final say on Article 50 deadline extension request.

On the release front, while US calendar remains relatively silent, UK’s calendar is highly active with multiple high impact updates scheduled to release in London market hours. US calendar sees the release of factory orders data in North American market hours while UK calendar sees the release of Average Earning Index + Bonus data, Claimant Count Change, Employment change 3M/3M – monthly readings and unemployment rate for January 2019. When looking from a technical perspective, the pair seems to be trapped within a wider price range as investors await EU’s vote for directional cues before placing any major bets. Expected support and resistance for the pair are at 1.3200, 1,3185/83, 1.3110 and 1.3280, 1.3300, 1.3330 handles respectively.

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