The GBP/USD price retreated in the Asian session as traders wait for key economic numbers from the UK. The pair has dropped to 1.3974, which is a few pips below this week’s high of 1.4000.
GBPUSD news: The ONS will publish some important economic numbers today at 07:00 GMT. The statistics agency will release the latest trade balance numbers from the UK. In general, analysts believe that the country exported and imported fewer goods in January as the country imposed tough lockdown measures.
They also expect the data to show that the manufacturing and industrial production numbers also disappointed because of these lockdowns. The ONS will also publish the final reading of UK Q4 GDP numbers.
However, since these numbers are lagging, their impact on the GBP/USD price will be muted. For one, a lot has happened in the past few weeks, including the expansion of the vaccination process and the recovery of some industries. The Bank of England has also hinted that it will not push rates to the negative zone.
The GBP/USD price has been in an uptrend recently. On the three-hour chart, we see that the price has moved slightly below the upper side of the rising channel. It has also moved slightly below the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level. The pair is also between the first and second support levels of the Andrews pitchfork tool.
Therefore, in my view, the pair will remain in the current range today as the focus shifts to next week’s Bank of England (BOE) decision. Any move above the upper channel will increase the possibility that the pair will test the 23.6% retracement at 1.4080.