US:

• The Fed left interest rates unchanged as
  expected at the last meeting.
• The macroeconomic projections were revised higher
  as the economy showed much stronger resilience than expected and the Dot Plot
  showed that the majority of members still expects another rate hike by the end
  of the year with less rate cuts in 2024.
• Fed Chair Powell
  reaffirmed their data dependency but added that they will proceed carefully as
  they are trying to find the optimal level of rates. Powell also added that the
  soft landing is not the base case at the moment, although they are aiming for
  it.
• The latest US Core PCE
  came
  in line with expectations with disinflation continuing steady.
• The labour market
  displayed signs of softening although it remains fairly solid as seen also last
  week with a strong beat in Jobless Claims and this
  week with the beat in Job Openings.
• The ISM Manufacturing PMI beat
  expectations while the ISM Services PMI came in
  line with forecasts in another sign that the US economy remains resilient.
• The miss in the ADP report
  yesterday led to some USD weakness which might continue if the data in the next
  couple of days misses as well.
• The market doesn’t expect the Fed to hike again at
  the moment.

UK:

• The BoE kept interest rates unchanged at the last meeting.
• The central bank is leaning more
  towards keeping interest rates “higher for longer” but it kept a door open for
  further tightening if inflationary pressures were to be more persistent.
• Key economic data like the latest employment report showed a very high wage growth
  despite the rising unemployment rate, but the latest UK CPI missed expectations across the board.
• The latest UK PMIs showed further contraction, especially in the
  Services sector.
• The market doesn’t expect the BoE to
  hike anymore.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis –
Daily Timeframe

On the daily chart, we can see that the GBPUSD pair
pulled back yesterday into the blue 8 moving average where
it’s finding some resistance. From a risk management perspective, the sellers
would have a much better risk to reward setup if the price pulled back all the
way up to the 1.2398 resistance where we
can find the confluence with the trendline, the
38.2% Fibonacci retracement level
and the red 21 moving average. The buyers, on the other hand, will need the
price to break above the trendline to turn the trend around.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis –
4 hour Timeframe

On the 4 hour chart, we can see that the latest leg
lower diverged with the
MACD which is
generally a sign of weakening momentum often followed by pullbacks or
reversals. In this case, we got a pullback into the minor trendline around the
1.2180 level where we can also find the Fibonacci retracement levels. The price
started to struggle here as the sellers are stepping in with a defined risk
above the trendline and positioning for more downside. The buyers will need the
price to break above the trendline to pile in with greater conviction and
target the resistance around the 1.2308 level.

GBPUSD Technical Analysis –
1 hour Timeframe

On the 1 hour chart, we can see that the
market structure on this timeframe is bullish as the price made a new higher
high yesterday. The buyers are likely to pile in around the 1.2100 support with
a defined risk below it to target a break above the trendline and ultimately
the 1.2308 resistance. More conservative buyers may want to wait for the price to
take out the trendline first before joining the rally. The sellers, on the
other hand, will want to see the price breaking below the 1.2100 support to
position for further downside and new lows.

Upcoming Events

Today we have the Jobless Claims report, which
continues to show a solid labour market and given the reaction to the miss in
the ADP yesterday, we can expect a rally in case of a miss and a drop in case
of a beat. Tomorrow, it will be the time for the NFP report which is the only
one the Fed will see before its next rate decision.

This article was written by FL Contributors at www.forexlive.com.