Forecast for GBP/USD on January 13, 2023

On Thursday, under overall market pressure as the dollar index fell by 0.95%, the British pound rose by 62 points. The signal line of the Marlin oscillator reached the limit of the ascending trend line - the risk of a downward reversal of the oscillator from the current values has increased.

Several British macro data will be released today with all the indicators showing negative outlook; GDP for November is expected to fall by 0.2%, the trade balance might drop from -14.5 billion GBP to -14.9 billion GBP, November industrial production may show a decline of 0.2%, the construction sector production might contract by 0.3%. Even on such an indicator like the mortgage lending may worsen from -£5.1bn to -£7.9bn.

As a result, I don't expect the British pound to strengthen in the coming days. In the best case, it may settle at the support of 1.2155 (low of May 13, high of November 24). In the future, in case the local trend of the dollar weakening continues, the pound can rise to the target level of 1.2410 (high on June 16).

On the four-hour chart, as I expected in the previous review, a divergence has formed. But in the current environment, where markets had a strong bullish momentum yesterday with the release of the US inflation report, the divergence looks weak and might turn into a sideways swing. I expect the price consolidation to end and further developments next week.