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Tag: GBPAUD

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Australian Dollar Puts In A Bottom

The AUD was the darling currency of the last several years benefiting most from China’s rapid growth rates. The tables turned in 2013, however, as the darling of the forex market became a dog. The $GBPAUD rallied over 3,100 pips on AUD weakness just shy of 1.75 with a high of 1.7482. It had not traded at those levels since 2010.

GBPAUD WEEKLY CHART

The weekly RSI is very interesting here. There is a divergence here that has been developing for several months now making it a powerful indicator that, now after some time, $GBPAUD bulls are throwing in the towel.

GBPAUD DAILY CHART

The price movement in the orange channel back in July has been the only “bearish” move in $GBPAUD since April. Since, the pair moved well beyond the 1.6916 July high to make highs last week at 1.7482. The pullback last week turned into a legitimate bearish move with lows breaking the 61.8% Fibonacci level at 1.7061 and moving below the big psychological level at 1.70.

The fundamentals certainly do support a bottom in AUD weakness. Last Tuesday, the RBA signaled an end to outright easing. Much of this breakout rally was due to RBA dovishness and interest rate cuts as other central banks remained unchanged in their monetary policies. Now that the RBA has shifted sentiment, the AUD may be due a significant relief rally.

GBPAUD DAILY CHART

With the break below 1.70, there are 3 support levels to watch in the coming sessions.

  1. 1.6916 is the former July high now turned support. We can see price has found support at this level twice before in August.
  2. The 50% and 61.8% Fibonacci levels at 1.6812 and 1.6653 respectively.
  3. The July low at 1.6141. A break below this level would mean a serious unraveling of this tremendous 2013 rally.

This is the potential of this breakdown:

GBPAUD WEEKLY CHART

Needless to say, we have a long way to go but if the fundamentals continue to improve for the AUD, the 1.5930 level could very well be reached.

Trade what you see.

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Sterling Digest, 23 August 2013: reality bites

Free stress test. Cool photo on Flickr
Are the markets telling us something?

Carney was supposed to be bearish for sterling. He was supposed to do some monetary magic that would weaken sterling to levels that would jumpstart industry in a stagnate British economy. There is just one problem with that. The story changed. When Carney accepted the position, the British economy was a very sad one. But that is not today’s scenario 6 months later. Numbers have been robust. Optimism is starting to creep in. Headlines are honestly hopeful. But let us not get too ahead of ourselves. The latter part of 2013 is yet to unfold. With sterling moves higher on yields (which are moving higher on growth), the question remains is if this growth is sustainable and repeatable. The uncertainty around this answer plays out as a grinding market for now. The moves are choppy but very well bid into some major resistance levels. ACROSS THE BOARD. $GBPAUD has seen 1.75; $GBPNZD targets 2.00; $GBPUSD has flirted with 1.5750; and $EURGBP remains supported by 0.85. The $GBPCAD weekly chart is unbelievable with price right at long-term resistance at 1.64. Incredible strength in sterling in the middle of August seems a little too good to be true. Wait for September.

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Timing Is Always Important

Sterling has completed some big time levels in the past week. $GBPUSD hit one-month highs at 1.5571. $GBPAUD broke out higher to 1.7340. And $EURGBP mean reverted back to 0.86 after hitting 5-month highs at 0.8750. I say all that so you can understand why I’m very much on the defensive into this new week. It is important to recognize how likely it is that these particular pairs start the week consolidating these major moves.

With the $GBPUSD linked to the almighty USD, cable will certainly lead. Opening below 1.55 signals weakness that could be short-lived as the Monday session gets underway. 1.5430 resistance-turned-support and the 1.5400 50% Fibonacci level of the rally from 1.5102 to 1.5571 are the key levels of support to watch now at the market open. $EURGBP below 0.8600 has 0.8570 as key to direction. The loss of 1.6925 resistance-turned-support signals further losses toward 1.6750 in the $GBPAUD.

If you enjoyed these major moves, take a seat back. If you missed these major moves, take a seat back. Timing is a critical factor in our trading. Be mindful of the timing: big moves, August trading, and new shifts in some of the major central banks. There is no need to rush or force trading, today, in particular. Often times, the best opportunities in the market are those you can wait on.

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Sterling Digest, 16 July 2013: beware the squeeze

Illustration squeezing housing building
The squeeze always shakes out the weak. Don’t be weak.

Sterling sits on a fence depending on which currency you trade it against. After hitting new 2013 lows last week, the $GBPUSD has since rallied as high as 1.5220. Unable to get back below 1.50, there is a threat that cable rallies even higher. The $GBPAUD, after hitting new 2013 highs, has since retreated back to 1.6350. The $EURGBP is enjoying a nice, albeit slow, breakout to the upside reaching as high as 0.8700. While this week’s data threatens to be GBP-negative, particularly the release of the Bank of England meeting minutes, pay attention to price action. Lower prices may simply translate to better buy opportunities for rallies. With many GBP bears in the market, the squeeze higher could come slowly and painfully. Be aware.

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Where Does It Go From Here?

The $GBPAUD finally staged a long overdue correction. Now what? Will the pair follow the AUD lower and resume its rally or will it follow the GBP lower?

GBPAUD 4HR GBPAUD DAILY

Given the Fibonacci levels on the daily chart and the diverging RSI on the 4hr chart, it looks highly probable that the pair resumes the bull trend. However, be aware of the Carney effect.

 

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Carney Makes The 1st Move

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Carney set off the fireworks early

New BoE Governor Mark Carney surprised markets today as he made his 1st move on British monetary policy. Instead of the traditional silence on monetary policy hold, Carney not only made comments but gave a full statement to introduce the markets to forward guidance.

At its meeting today, the Committee noted that the incoming data over the past couple of months had been broadly consistent with the central outlook for output growth and inflation contained in the May Report.  The significant upward movement in market interest rates would, however, weigh on that outlook; in the Committee’s view, the implied rise in the expected future path of Bank Rate was not warranted by the recent developments in the domestic economy.

The latest remit letter to the MPC from the Chancellor had requested that the Committee provide an assessment, alongside its August Inflation Report, of the case for adopting some form of forward guidance, including the possible use of intermediate thresholds.  This analysis would have an important bearing on the Committee’s policy discussions in August.

Not only has Carney told the market not to expect interest rate rises, he also telegraphed a possible move in policy as soon as next month. And don’t expect positive economic data to stop them either. This make the August BoE meeting even more important and all eyes have already moved towards expectations for it. We can see that already in today’s price action. Pairs that have enjoyed breakouts like the $GBPAUD, $GBPNZD, and $GBPCAD are seeing long overdue corrections. The $GBPUSD remains entrenched in its bear trend and threatens to break down to new lows. A breakout in the $EURGBP seems imminent.

But US markets are on holiday today so the reaction has actually been muted if you can believe it. Expect the real fireworks when US traders return to all this forward guidance (the ECB is announced forward guidance today as well) and the US NFP release. Happy 4th!

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GBP/AUD Tests The Top

$GBPAUD ripped higher on the back of a AUD weakness-GBP strength double whammy. During the Asian session overnight, the Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens jawboned the Aussie off a cliff. In fact, the market is now pricing in an increased 60% chance of a RBA rate cut in August. As a result, the AUD was throttled across the board allowing the $GBPAUD to rally to 1.6750. Then UK services PMI surprised to the upside and further carried the $GBPAUD to new highs at 1.6858.

GBPAUD 4hr chart

With this news-induced rally, one would anticipate that the $GBPAUD would have broken to new highs on the daily chart. After all, the fundamentals just laid out should support such a breakout. The $AUDUSD certainly did break down to lows not seen in 3 years. The $GBPUSD found a bottom at new lows to break above 1.6250 resistance that had capped price all week. And yet we find the $GBPAUD struggling to take out the top at 1.6877. Perhaps the market awaits the BoE decision tomorrow. Perhaps the market will wait for the 4th of July holiday to pass. Whatever the reason, bulls should be cautious. This rally is looking exhausted with the weekly chart is still working out overbought conditions. All of which makes the $GBPAUD very toppish at these levels.

 

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Sterling Digest, 1 July 2013: dawn of the Carney Era

Mark Carney at the Bank of England
New Bank of England Governor Mark Carney

This is an exciting time for sterling traders as we lay witness to the dawn of a new era. Mark Carney takes the helm today as the new Bank of England Governor. The market, as well as some top officials in the UK government, have been widely anticipating this transition since it was first announced last November. Former Governor Mervyn King has led the BoE my entire forex career. I will miss the always predictable market reaction to King’s speeches (King speaks, sell sterling) but it seems the British are ready for new monetary leadership. Though Carney has set market expectations as a GBP bear, prices will not plunge just because he steps into office. The market will size him up first with plenty of price fluctuations and positioning in anticipation of his 1st interest rate announcement and inflation report. Will the Carney Era bring sterling strength or weakness? British prosperity or recession? In 5 short years, the markets will have their verdict.

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GBPAUD Finds A Top

The $GBPAUD breakout has been epic. It was one of those amazing rides that you only participate in in portions. There is not a trader who captured every single pip of this move. There are many who did, however, rake in a killing take portions of this gigantic trend wave that broke out to new 2-year highs.

GBPAUD WEEK CHART

Looking at the weekly chart, it is interesting to note that this is only a 1st bullish wave. Now after 10 bullish weeks, we are starting to see a pullback. The RSI is severely overbought and has been for several weeks now. So a top was not only inevitable, it was necessary.

GBPAUD 4HR CHART

Watch 1.6380 today. Price has bounced from this support level before. If we can get below 1.6380, then price will move toward 1.6270, the 50% Fibonacci level of June’s rally and previous support. From there, price will confirm this new AUD bear trend or allow for a deeper correction still.

 

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Sterling Digest, May 22 2013: King starts the exit

picture of BoE governor Mervyn King
King’s last stand

The $GBPUSD is now 2 weeks into May and its seasonality trend is still in play. These are the times traders sit on their hands and do nothing to allow their winners to run. Sell in May has never rang so true. Fundamentally, BoE Governor King used his final inflation report to start the exits from the Bank of England. Last week’s speech might have been the 1st time that sterling ever rallied on comments from Governor King. Nonetheless, $GBPUSD opened this new trading week below 1.5230 signaling further losses ahead.

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