GBPUSD:
The pound sterling gave up ground on the back of a poor British news calendar. Pound traders are expecting a tight data schedule on Friday.
GBP/USD lost another four-tenths of a percent on Thursday, hitting six-month lows, as underlying weakness in the pound sterling leads the pair further down against the US dollar. Market pressure is building ahead of Friday’s key data due for release shortly, capping off this modest week.
Friday will begin with the release of UK retail sales data for October. UK retail sales are expected to have contracted 0.3% m/m compared to September’s 0.3%. On a year-on-year basis, UK retail sales growth will decline to 3.4% y/y from the previous figure of 3.9%.
Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) business activity figures will be released on Friday on a rolling basis, with PMI data to be released on both sides of the Atlantic. The UK Manufacturing PMI for November is expected to be unchanged at 49.9, just below contraction, while the UK Services PMI is forecast to rise to 52.1 from 52.0.
Median market forecasts for the U.S. portion of Friday’s PMI release schedule suggest a general increase in activity expectations, with the November U.S. manufacturing PMI expected to rise to 48.8 from 48.5. The services PMI component of the PMI will also increase to 55.3 from 55.0.
Trading recommendation: Watch the level of 1.2570, when fixing above it consider Buy positions, when rebounding consider Sell positions.
Origin: FreshForex
