Pound pairs might be off to a slow start this week before the economic calendar action picks up later on.
What’s lined up? Here are the potential sterling catalysts to watch out for:
Mid-tier economic reports
- Headline U.K. CPI (Jan. 20, 8:00 am GMT) likely improved from 0.3% to 0.5% in December, core CPI probably rose from 1.1% to 1.3%
- CBI industrial order expectations (Jan. 21, 12:00 pm GMT) to fall from -25 to -35 this month
- GfK consumer confidence index (Jan. 22, 1:00 am GMT) likely slipped from -26 to -30
- Retail sales (Jan. 22, 8:00 am GMT) to post 0.8% rebound in December after earlier 3.8% decline
Flash PMI readings
- Manufacturing PMI likely fell from 57.5 to 53.1 this month
- Services PMI probably dropped from 49.4 to 45.4
- Readings below 50.0 reflect contraction, above 50.0 signal expansion
- Weak results expected as the U.K. imposed stricter lockdown measures late last year to curb the spread of the new strain of the COVID-19 virus
Technical snapshot
- Stochastic paints a mixed picture of pound pairs, placing GBP/CHF, GBP/NZD, and GBP/JPY in the overbought zone
- Sterling has been most volatile against the Kiwi over the last seven days, moving an average of 117 pips per day
Missed last week’s price action? Check out the GBP Price Review for Jan. 11 – 15!
