Forex Daily Recap – UK GDP Declined, Pushing GBP to Multi-Year Lows

Notably, the UK Q2 GDP remained at the top of the trader’s daily event watchlist. The market had already forecasted the GDP figures to decline by 0.5% this time and report near 0.0%. Somehow, the actual GDP statistics came around -0.2%, shocking the market participants. Moreover, the June Manufacturing Production and Industrial Production data also published adverse reports. Despite that, the UK PM Boris Johnson remained stubborn over exiting UK irrespective of attaining a deal for a Brexit.

USD/CNY

The Chinese Yuan pair continued to stay sustained within a multi-month uptrend channel. Quite noticeably, the MACD line had already crossed above the signal line at the start of August, favoring the bulls. Meantime, RSI stood near 81.03 overbought levels. At any point, this overbought RSI could have played its role in dragging down the pair. Anyhow, such a detrimental act has not taken place yet.

On the other hand, the Chinese economic docket showcased mixed data releases throughout the day. The July YoY Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 0.1% this time over the market hopes of around 2.7%. Also, the MoM CPI reported 0.4% in comparison to the 0.2% estimates. Somehow, the Chinese July YoY Producer Price Index (PPI) displayed -0.3% over -0.1% forecasts, pouring cold water on the pair’s daily positive drifts.

USD/CHF

After testing the overhead red Ichimoku Clouds earlier this month, the bears had taken control over the pair’s daily price actions. Even today, the pair extended the previous day’s downward rally, hovering near 0.9733 level.

Anyhow, a stable 0.9694 support handle stood on the downside in order to cover up any potential losses. The base line and the conversion line of the Ichimoku Clouds were making rounds above the USD/CHF pair, encouraging the bears. At around 05:45 GMT, the July MoM Switzerland Unemployment Rate s.a. came in-line with the previous as well as the consensus estimate, recording 2.3%.

USD/CAD

Canadian currency slipped following disappointing Jobs data thereby allowing the Loonie pair to climb fresh heights.

The July Net Change in Employment reported -24.2K over +12.5K street estimates. Also, the July Unemployment Rate rose 0.2% this time in comparison to the last 5.5%. Even the June MoM Building Permits came around -3.7% over +1.5% forecast. In the meanwhile, the July YoY Average Hourly Wages soared 0.9% over the last recorded 3.6%. Anyhow, the USD/CAD pair appeared to shrug over this upbeat data and refocused on the downbeat ones.

USD/ZAR

The Rand pair geared up on Friday, escalating towards the 1:1 Gann line, developing strong positive price actions. The RSI has crossed the 70 overbought benchmark, touching 76 mark, cheering up the bulls. Such a healthy upliftment in the pair came following abrupt growth in the Chinese Yuan.

South Africa relies highly on China for its Exports and Foreign Investment activities. Therefore, South African Rand currency remains highly correlated with the performance of the Chinese Yuan. With full ammunition intact, the USD/ZAR pair breached above the sturdy 15.1912 resistance that was restricting the upside since last few sessions.