All Eyes On British Pound And BoE Decision

 | May 06, 2021 04:37AM ET

The best performer on Wednesday was the DAX which rebounded towards 15200 while we have made a large catch with our long entry at 15020 that ended with a 100-points profit.
 
Today the focus turns to the British pound and the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision. Some investors expect the central bank to slow the pace of bond purchases by a small amount instead of ending the stimulus abruptly in November. Policy makers are also expected to upgrade forecasts for growth and inflation today.

The pound will rally if the BoE tapers more drastically than currently expected. However, a slowdown in the pace of purchases could probably not have the same impact as the tightening seen by the Bank of Canada last month but it will be important to know whether rate hike expectations are being brought forward and whether there is still a likelihood of a further total envelope or not as the UK economy rebounds sharply from pandemic lows. If the BoE disappoints the market’s hawkish expectations, the pound could fall below 1.38.

h2 GBP/USD/h2

The cable remained in a narrow trading range ahead of today’s risk event and we expect some larger movement around the BoE decision. Above 1.3915 we see a next resistance at 1.3950 which needs to be broken before shifting the focus to 1.40 again. A bullish breakout above 1.4010 could result in a strong bullish move towards 1.42. On the downside we will keep an eye on the support levels. A break below 1.38 could lead to a test of 1.3770, followed by a lower target at 1.37. Below 1.3660 the pound could extend its slide towards 1.3550.