Cable Rises As Bulls Gain Strength

The Great Britain Pound (GBP) inched higher against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, increasing the price of GBPUSD to more than 1.2850 following some key economic events. The technical bias remains bullish because of a higher low in the recent upside rally.

GBP/USD Technical Analysis

As of this writing, the pair is being traded near 1.2892. A hurdle may be noted around 1.3158 (the high of the last major upside rally) ahead of 1.3247 (another key horizontal resistance) and then 1.3300 (the psychological number).

On the downside, a support can be noted around 1.2700 (a psychological number) ahead of 1.2634 (the low of the last major downside move) and then 1.2500 (the confluence of horizontal support as well as psychological number) as demonstrated in the given above chart. The technical bias shall remain bullish as long as the 1.2700 support area is intact.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to near a six-month low last week, pointing to a further tightening in the labor market that could encourage the Federal Reserve to lay out a plan to start unwinding its massive bond portfolio. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 232,000 for the week ended Aug. 12, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest level since the week ended Feb. 25 when claims fell to 227,000, which was the best reading since March 1973. Claims have now been below 300,000, a threshold associated with a robust labor market, for 128 weeks. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was smaller. The unemployment rate is 4.3 percent.

Trade Idea

Considering the overall technical and fundamental outlook, buying the pair around current levels may be a good strategy in short to medium term.

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