It’s Super Thursday so you know traders will be watching key currency pairs like GBP/USD.
Will the pound stay inside its range against the dollar?
Before moving on, ICYMI, today’s Asia-London session watchlist checked out key short-term support and resistance levels for EUR/GBP ahead of the BOE’s policy decision. Be sure to check that out if it’s still a valid play!
And now for the headlines that rocked the markets in the last trading sessions:
Fresh Market Headlines & Economic Data:
Fed’s Daly sees bond program taper later this year or early 2022
Australia posts record trade surplus in Q2 2021
German factories see economic recovery picking up as orders rise
AU’s NSW records 262 local COVID-19 cases and five deaths as Hunter region joins lockdown
Asian stocks hold gains, dollar strong on Fed official comments
Sterling gains ahead of BoE meeting
German industrial orders bounce back, but supply bottlenecks weigh
Upcoming Potential Catalysts on the Economic Calendar:
BOE’s policy decision (Super Thursday!) at 11:00 am GMT
U.S. Challenger job cuts at 11:30 am GMT
U.S. initial jobless claims at 12:30 pm GMT
U.S. trade balance at 12:30 pm GMT
Canada’s trade balance at 12:30 pm GMT
If you’re not familiar with the forex market’s main trading sessions, check out our Forex Market Hours tool.
What to Watch: GBP/USD
In a few hours, the Bank of England (BOE) will publish its August monetary policy, meeting minutes, and quarterly projections.
While markets don’t see policy changes from the central bank, many believe that changes in quarterly growth and inflation projections will point to more tapering later this year.
And that’s not all! The U.S. is also printing its last initial jobless claims report before this week’s non-farm payrolls (NFP) release, so you can bet that traders will use today’s reports to price in their bets ahead of the NFP event.
If the BOE’s decision and presser hint at tapering or even tightening before the year ends, or if traders believe that we’ll see a weak NFP report on Friday, then GBP/USD could pop up to the 1.3975 range resistance on the 1-hour time frame.
Meanwhile, concerns over the local and global COVID-19 cases could encourage some BOE members to adopt a wait-and-see mode instead of keeping calm and carrying on with their previously hawkish biases.
If the BOE projects more cautiousness than markets have expected, or if more traders price in more Fed members hinting of tapering this year, then GBP/USD could dip back down to the 1.3880 range resistance or even make new weekly lows below the 200 SMA.
