Sterling Surges amid US Employment Data


The Great Britain Pound (GBP) inched higher against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday, increasing the price of GBPUSD to more than 1.2450 ahead of the US jobless claims news. The technical bias has turned bullish because of a higher high in the recent upside rally.

Technical Analysis

As of this writing, the pair is being traded near 1.2485. A support can be noted around 1.2475 (an immediate trendline support) ahead of 1.2464 (the short term horizontal support area) and then 1.2425 (the confluence of lower trendline as well as horizontal support area) as demonstrated in the given below hourly chart.

On the upside, a hurdle may be noted around 1.2495 (the trendline resistance area as demonstrated with brown color in the above chart) ahead of 1.2503 (the confluence of upper trendline + 61.8% fib level) and then 1.2557 (the high of last major upside wave). The technical bias shall remain bullish as long as the 1.2495 support area is intact.

US Initial Jobless Claims

The US labor department is scheduled to release the Initial Jobless Claims data today during the US trading session. According to the average forecast of different economists, the jobless claims registered 250k reading this week as compared to 258k in the week before. The Initial Jobless Claims released by the US Department of Labor is a measure of the number of people filing first-time claims for state unemployment insurance. In other words, it provides a measure of strength in the labor market. A larger than expected number indicates weakness in this market which influences the strength and direction of the US economy. Generally speaking, a decreasing number should be taken as positive or bullish for the USD.

Trade Idea

Considering the overall technical and fundamental outlook, buying the pair around current levels appears to be a good strategy in short to medium term.

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