Gbpusd edges lower amid us economic data insights and consolidation phase

GBPUSD Analysis

Performance after Thursday
Period	Pct	Chg	Momentum
Thursday	-0.01%	-1.2 Pips
Week to-date	2.53%	318.6 Pips
March	2.53%	318.6 Pips

Upcoming key events (London Time)

Fri 01:30 PM USD Nonfarm Payroll Employment
Fri 01:30 PM USD Average Hourly Earnings (12-mth)
Fri 05:30 PM USD Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speech

What happened lately

In the United States, the Nonfarm Business Labor Productivity experienced an increase to 1.5% in the fourth quarter, up from 1.2% in the third quarter, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This suggests an improvement in efficiency in the labor market. At the same time, Unit Labor Costs decreased to 2.2% in Q4 from 3% in Q3, indicating a reduction in the cost of labor per unit of output. This combination of rising productivity and declining labor costs could signal a healthier economic environment. Additionally, initial unemployment claims for the week ending March 1 dropped significantly to 221,000 from a previous 242,000, which reflects a strengthened labor market. Furthermore, new orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose by 1.7% in January, rebounding from a decrease of 0.6% in December, as reported by the Census Bureau. This rebound reflects an increase in demand for manufactured goods, contributing positively to economic growth.

Regarding the GBPUSD currency pair, it recorded a minor decline of 0.01% to 1.28930, indicating a period of consolidation. The improvement in U.S. economic conditions, as evidenced by increased productivity, lower unemployment claims, and rising factory orders, tends to bolster the U.S. dollar, potentially contributing to slight downward pressure on the GBPUSD. Analysts anticipate upcoming high-impact events, such as the U.S. Nonfarm Payroll Employment data, Average Hourly Earnings report, and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, to provide further insights and could lead to increased volatility in the GBPUSD pair. These events could further influence traders’ perceptions of economic strength and monetary policy, thus affecting the currency pair’s movement in the short term.

Latest from X (Twitter)

Tweets by Office for National Statistics

What can we expect from GBPUSD today?

GBPUSD on Thursday dropped -0.01% to 1.28930. Price is above 9-Day EMA while Stochastic is rising in overbought zone.

Updated daily direction for GBPUSD looks mixed as the pair is likely to consolidate above 1.28857 (S1).

Looking ahead today, to see upside interest, we prefer to look at price breakout of last daily high of 1.29002 or trades above daily pivot 1.28929. Break above could target R1 at 1.29003. While to the downside, we are looking at 1.28857 (S1) and daily low of 1.28856 as support levels. GBPUSD need to break on either side to indicate a short-term bias. A close below 1.28856 would indicate selling pressure.

For the week to-date, take note that GBPUSD is bullish as the pair continued to trade higher and is up by 2.53% over the past few days.

Key levels to watch out:

#GBPUSD Trending on Twitter

[custom-twitter-feeds hashtag=”#GBPUSD” num=3 showheader=false]