The British pound is trading quietly in the Monday session. In North American trade, GBP/USD is trading at 1.4002, down 0.21% on the day. On the release front, there are no US events, with US markets closed for Presidents’ Day. In the UK, Rightmove HPI gained 0.8%, its strongest gain in four months. On Tuesday, the UK releases CBI Industrial Order Expectations.
GBP/USD gained 1.3% last week, as the dollar continued to lose ground to its major rivals. However, the dollar rebounded with gains on Friday, following strong US housing and consumer confidence reports on Friday. Building Permits jumped to 1.40 million in January, up from 1.30 million in December. This easily beat the estimate of 1.29 million. Housing Starts followed suit and improved to 1.33 million in January, up from 1.19 million a month earlier. This was well above the forecast of 1.28 million. There was more positive news from consumer confidence, as UoM Consumer Confidence climbed to 99.9, well above the estimate of 95.4 points. Despite stock market volatility, consumer confidence was boosted by the recent tax reform package and a red-hot labor market.
Should cryptocurrencies be regulated? Bitcoin has seen wild fluctuations in recent months, ranging from under $1000 to just under $20,000. There are growing calls for these currencies to be regulated, and central banks could play a key role in such a move. However, last week, ECB President Mario Draghi poured cold water on any ECB involvement, saying that it was not the ECB’s responsibility to ban or regulate Bitcoin. Draghi added that the ECB was exploring the use of blockchain, a digital technology to monitor bitcoin transactions. Still, with Bitcoin gaining more and more popularity, the Bank of England and other central banks will have to pay greater to attention to the impact of Bitcoin on the currency markets.
GBP/USD Fundamentals
Sunday (February 18)
- 19:01 British Rightmove HPI. Actual 0.8%
Monday (February 19)
- 14:45 BOE Governor Carney Speaks
Tuesday (February 20)
- 6:00 British CBI Industrial Order Expectations
*All release times are GMT
*Key events are in bold
GBP/USD for Monday, February 19, 2018
GBP/USD February 19 at 12:25 EDT
Open: 1.4032 High: 1.4050 Low: 1.3959 Close: 1.4002
GBP/USD Technical
| S1 | S2 | S1 | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1.3744 | 1.3809 | 1.3901 | 1.4010 | 1.4128 | 1.4271 |
GBP/USD posted gains but then retracted in Asian trade. In the European session, the pair showed limited movement. In North American trade, GBP/USD headed lower but has recovered
- 1.3901 is providing support
- 1.4010 was tested earlier in resistance and remains under pressure
Current range: 1.3901 to 1.4010
Further levels in both directions:
- Below: 1.3901, 1.3809 and 1.3744
- Above: 1.4010, 1.4128, 1.4271 and 1.4345
OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio
In the Monday session, GBP/USD ratio is showing a majority for short positions (54%). This is indicative of trader bias towards GBP/USD continuing to move lower.
This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.
