GBP/USD Price Analysis & News
- GBPUSD Slides with PM Johnson Expected to Announce Another National Lockdown
- COVID Threat Raised to Highest Alert Level
UK PM Johnson is scheduled to address the nation at 20:00GMT with expectations that a national lockdown similar to March 2020 will be announced. This comes amid the soaring number of COVID cases resulting in the COVID alert level moving to 5, according to a BBC reporter. As a reminder, PM Johnson earlier stated that tougher measures than the current tier 4 restriction will be needed in light of the surge in COVID cases, while Scotland also announced it will go into a national lockdown for the remainder of January.
GBP: The Pound is underperforming, having earlier tested 1.3700, GBP/USD is back below 1.3600, to hit a low of 1.3575 at the time of writing. In turn, the calls of a possible double-dip recession will likely grow louder given the expected announcement.
Change in | Longs | Shorts | OI |
Daily | -10% | -4% | -8% |
Weekly | -5% | 8% | 0% |
FTSE 100/FTSE 250: Unlike the more domestically focused FTSE 250, the FTSE 100 has managed to hold onto its broad gains with a weak Sterling underpinning the index. However, risks are tilted to the downside, with 6600 under threat, opening the doors for a move to 6500.
GBP/USD Chart: Daily Timeframe
Source: IG