GBP/USD Price Forecast – GBP/USD Tests 1.3200 Handle Ahead of Carney’s Speech

The Sterling is drifting towards recent lows as confidence shakes out on combative statements from the BoE. The GBP/USD is slowly treading 1.320 handle after Tuesday’s action saw the pair slide from a high of 1.3290 as market sentiment continues to drift towards the downside. The mood for the Sterling went lower on Tuesday, driven by comments from the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee member Jonathan Haskel accused improper investment spending of being the primary driver behind the UK’s slow productivity growth, and is further hampering interest rate’s abilities to spur on further business investment. The GBP reacted negatively throughout the day, dipping into a low of 1.3190 before recovering at the tail end of the US session.

GBPUSD Under Pressure

The Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate continued to face pressure late into Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, with the ‘Buck’ largely unperturbed by a small contraction in US consumer confidence. The confidence index fell from a score of 128.8 to 126.4 in June, but this fall was ultimately not sizable enough to diminish the near-term outlook for the ‘Greenback’ or indeed scare investors away from the currency. Wednesday brings a hefty outing from the BoE’s Governor, Mark Carney, who will be speaking at 08:30 GMT when the central bank releases their latest Financial Stability Report, and Carney is expected to walk markets through the release’s key points.

Later on in the US session will be the US’ Durable Goods orders, with the data for May expected to come in at -1.0%, a negative reading, but still an improvement from the last reading of -1.6%. the  GBP/USD pair 4 hours chart shows that it fell below its 20 SMA, the first time since BOE’s boost, while technical indicators entered negative territory, with nice downward slopes and at fresh weekly lows, anticipating some further declines ahead. Bulls will become more courageous only on a break above 1.3315, now a less likely scenario, while renewed selling pressure below the 1.5180 region exposes the 1.3100 figure, where the pair bottomed for this 2018.