GBP/USD, FTSE 100 Outlook Still Positive

GBP price, news and analysis:

  • GBP/USD and the FTSE 100 index of the major London-listed stocks are easing gently Thursday but continue to trend higher as hopes rise of a drug that could help patients recover more quickly from coronavirus.
  • Meanwhile EUR/GBP remains flat ahead of news from a monetary policy meeting of the European Central Bank.

GBP/USD uptrend persists

GBP/USD and London’s FTSE 100 stock market index are well placed to continue to push ahead, helped by hopes that Gilead Sciences experimental antiviral drug remdesivir will help patients infected by coronavirus recover more quickly. There are hopes too that AstraZeneca will make and distribute globally a Covid-19 vaccine.

In response, GBP/USD continues to advance within a well-defined upward channel on the charts despite modest early losses in Europe Thursday and some mixed UK company results. Royal Dutch Shell is cutting its dividend for the first time since World War II but there was also news of record sales at Reckitt Benckiser on a boom in disinfectant sales.

GBP/USD Price Chart, One-Hour Timeframe (April 22-30, 2020)

Chart by IG (You can click on it for a larger image)

GBP/USD
BULLISH

Data provided by



of clients are net long.



of clients are net short.

Change in Longs Shorts OI
Daily -10% 10% -1%
Weekly -7% 3% -2%

Elsewhere, EUR/GBP continues to trade sideways ahead of news from a meeting of the European Central Bank, which could expand its pandemic emergency bond-buying program. Details from the UK Debt Management Office of its plan to sell £180 billion pounds of debt over the next three months to fund the government’s coronavirus stimulus program had little impact.

As for UK stocks, the FTSE 100 index was also modestly easier in early London trading Thursday but it too could resume its move higher shortly.

What are Safe-Haven Assets & How to Trade Them

Building Confidence in Trading

Building Confidence in Trading

Recommended by Martin Essex, MSTA

Build confidence during these volatile times

We look at Sterling regularly in the DailyFX Trading Global Markets Decoded podcasts that you can find here on Apple or wherever you go for your podcasts

— Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor

Feel free to contact me via the comments section below

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*