Crude oil futures surged on Monday due to disruptions in Russian refining capacity caused by Ukrainian drone strikes and Moscow's decision to cut output to comply with OPEC+ targets. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract for May settled at $81.95 a barrel, up $1.32, while the Brent contract for May settled at $86.57 a barrel, also up $1.32. Russia instructed...
UK unemployment surged to a record high in five years
2021-02-23 • Updated
What happened?
UK jobless rate surged to its highest level in almost five years in the fourth quarter. However, it wasn’t a surprise as analysts accurately predicted this outcome since these days the UK has to cope with two serious problems simultaneously: Covid-19 and the post-Brexit period. The government poured an enormous amount of money into wage subsidies, which allowed to support almost 4 million jobs at the end of 2020 after one of the deepest economic slumps in global history.
Not all the data was bad!
Claimant Count Change came out much better than it was expected. The number of British people claiming jobless benefits dropped by 20 000, while the forecast was the increase of 13 800. Besides, Average Earnings beat expectations as well. What about UK’s success with vaccines? The UK is one of the leading countries by the number of vaccinations made. 18 million British people have already got the vaccine. It helped to reduce hospitalizations, but UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has still decided to go slow on easing lockdowns. They will be held in four stages between 8 March and 21 June.
Technical analysis
GBP/USD is getting closer to the psychological mark of 1.4100, but the upside is limited since GBP/USD is overbought. The RSI indicator has jumped above the 70.00 level and the pair is touching the upper trend line of the ascending channel established in November. Besides, the MACD started declining and crossed the signal line to the downside. These factors in combination point to the soon pullback down. The support level is at the recent low of 1.4050. The move below it will drive the pair to the low of February 22 at 1.4000.
Similar
Bearish scenario: Sales below 80.00 with TP1: 79.60... Anticipated bullish scenario: Intraday purchases above 80.70 with TP: 81.50...
Bearish Scenario: Sales below 78.99 with TP1: 77.93, TP2: 77.45, and upon its breakout TP3: 76.56 and TP4: 75.70 Bullish Scenario: Purchases above 78.00 (wait for a pullback to this area) with TP1: 1679.00 (uncovered POC*), TP2: 79.33, and TP3: 79.66 intraday
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Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chair, stated that the central bank can afford to be patient in deciding when to cut interest rates, citing easing inflation and stable economic growth. Powell emphasized the Fed's independence from political influences, particularly relevant as the election season nears. The Fed had raised interest rates to 5.3 ...
Hello again my friends, it’s time for another episode of “What to Trade,” this time, for the month of April. As usual, I present to you some of my most anticipated trade ideas for the month of April, according to my technical analysis style. I therefore encourage you to do your due diligence, as always, and manage your risks appropriately.
Bearish scenario: Sell below 1.0820 / 1.0841... Bullish scenario: Buy above 1.0827...