British pound may rise as GBP/USD short bets build up
The British pound may rise against the US dollar as retail investors continue selling into the price trend. Will GBP/USD complete a bullish falling wedge chart pattern breakout?
British pound IG client sentiment - talking points
- British pound may rise as short bets increase
- GBP/USD confirms falling wedge breakout
- 2019 resistance seems key technical barrier
GBP/USD IG client sentiment outlook
The British pound could be getting ready to extend recent gain against the US dollar based on signals from IG client sentiment (IGCS) gauge. On 8 July, the IGCS gauge implied that about 47% of retail investors were net long GBP/USD. This is as exposure to the downside increased by six percent and two percent over a daily and weekly basis respectively. Net long bets fell by five percent and six percent over the same periods.
We typically take a contrarian view to crowd sentiment, and the fact traders are net short hints GBP may keep rising. Recent adjustments in positioning offer a stronger bullish GBP/USD contrarian trading bias. From a psychological standpoint, this could speak to investors attempting to increasingly pick the next topping point in the British pound.
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GBP/USD Client Positioning
British pound technical analysis
A GBP/USD push above the top of a falling wedge, a bullish chart pattern, seemingly bolsters the case for gains. The pair confirmed an upside breakout in late June and the trajectory could see sterling retest peaks from last month’s key resistance between $1.274 and $1.2813. Taking this range out may open the door for resuming the bounce off March’s bottom.
However, falling resistance from December 2019 could maintain the dominant downtrend – blue parallel lines on the daily chart below. If this occurs, a turn lower would place the focus on rising support from May – the red line on the chart. Closing under this trend line, as well as $1.2252, could see the pair set course to revisit the May low at $1.2077. Beyond that level sit lows from 2016 and 2017.
Should prices extend gains in the aftermath of the falling wedge breakout however, as IGCS seems to be hinting is more likely, the British pound could push towards March 2020 highs. This area, between $1.3097 and $1.32, could stand in the way as resistance. A hold at this range may open the door to a reversal where the falling trend line from 2019 could stand in the way as new support.
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GBP/USD daily chart
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