In Tuesday's Asian trading, GBP/USD remains near the 1.2965 level. Pressure on the pound is exerted by statistics from the British Consortium of Retailers (BRC), where in October a decrease in the retail price index was recorded from -0.6% to -0.8% in annual terms, against analysts' expectations of -0.5%. This indicator hints at a weakening of inflation, which may allow the Bank of England to actively reduce interest rates.
Today at 11:30 (GMT+2), data on consumer lending will be published in the UK. It is predicted that net consumer lending will decrease from 4.2 billion pounds to 4.1 billion, and approval of mortgage applications — from 64,858 thousand to 64,200 thousand. Additional pressure on the GBP/USD pair was exerted by business activity data for October: the index in manufacturing decreased from 51.5 to 50.3 points, in the services sector — from 52.4 to 51.8, and the composite index — from 52.6 to 51.7 points, which falls short of analysts' expectations.
The head of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, stressed that the introduction of the digital currency (CBDC) "Britcoin" will not entail the abandonment of the use of cash. The Bank of England is already exploring the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT), noting the importance of adapting to innovations in the financial sector.
On the daily GBP/USD chart, the Bollinger band indicator indicates a moderate narrowing of the range, reflecting short-term uncertainty. The MACD indicator shows a weak buy signal, and the Stochastic is approaching the overbought zone, signaling a possible short-term weakening of the pair
Sell deals can be opened when the price breaks below 1.2948 with a target of 1.2860 and a stop loss at 1.3000
With a rebound from 1.2948 and an upward breakdown of the 1.3000 level, we will consider long positions with a target of 1.3100. We will set the stop loss at 1.2948.