GBP/USD Bulls Take a Pause Ahead of UK Jobs Report as Traders Cautious

[[GBP/USD]] traders take a break around the mid-1.2100s in anticipation of Tuesday’s UK jobs report. The recent bullishness of the pair, which led to its biggest daily rise in a month, hasn’t helped improve market sentiment because the US dollar is falling. However, investors remain cautious, given the ongoing strikes among bus drivers and medical staff, which have only recently been resolved. Meanwhile, workers in significant retailers plan to stage protests, highlighting adverse working conditions amid rising inflation, largely attributed to a weak jump in the payout.

Cautious Optimism from the BoE Limits GBP/USD‘s Growth

While the BoE’s next move instills cautious optimism, it caps GBP/USD’s growth. According to a recent Reuters poll, the Bank of England plans to lift the bank rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% in March and then pause. Also, BoE policymaker Jonathan Haskel points out that the UK’s number of people not looking for work is going up. He says he would instead make policy decisions based on more data in the next few months.

GBP/USD Technical Outlook

Yesterday evening, the GBP/USD pair traded in a positive direction. It broke through the resistance of the bearish correctional channel and stayed above it. This suggests that the price might attempt to regain its primary bullish trend, but the technical indicators provide negative signals that may hinder its rise. The EMA50 forms a resistance barrier against the price, while the stochastic has lost its positive momentum.

Therefore, the bearish correctional trend will likely resume in the upcoming sessions, with targets starting at 1.1940. To do this, the price needs to break through 1.2105 and move toward the target. It’s crucial to note that breaching 1.2190 will complete a bullish pattern that could push the price to rise and return to the primary bullish trend.

The GBP/USD is expected to trade between 1.2050 support and 1.2210 resistance in terms of the trading range. The trend for today is expected to be bearish.