At 2 am Eastern Time today, the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics reported that annual inflation has officially crossed into the double digits for the first time since 1982. In July, year-over-year CPI in the UK beat expectations by rising 10.1%, while year-over-year Core CPI (which excludes volatile food and energy prices) similarly beat market forecasts by increasing 6.2%. While high inflation of this magnitude is typically a bullish indication for a currency, implying rampant growth which must be slowed through higher interest rates, there is reason to believe that is not the case here. This is primarily because a) the UK’s economy is contracting, and b) the Bank of England has thus far been too timid to be effectively hawkish. With this in mind, let’s discuss the EdgeFinder’s top 4 pairs to sell today, which happen to all be GBP pairs.
1) GBP/USD
This pair makes the top of the bearish list, earning a -8 or ‘strong sell’ signal from the EdgeFinder. This is because the US economy’s fundamentals are better than the UK’s (except for severity in GDP contraction), trader sentiment heavily favors USD, and both trend reading and seasonality (historical performance this month) indicate bearishness.
2) GBP/CHF
This pair also earns a ‘strong sell’ signal, or -6. Most variables favor CHF due to the Swiss economy’s resilient performance in contrast to that of the UK. COT data and interest rate divergence are the only categories that don’t support this signal because institutional traders have similar sentiment regarding these currencies, and the Swiss National Bank has not had to confront high inflation.
3) GBP/CAD
Earning yet another -6 or ‘strong sell’ signal, all categories but two favor CAD due to Canada’s economic stability and hawkish central bank. Only seasonality favors GBP, along with the UK’s superior unemployment rate (currently 3.8% to Canada’s 4.9%), though Canada’s has been declining.
4) GBP/AUD
This pair earns a milder, but still significant, ‘sell’ signal at -5. All listed fundamentals lean in AUD’s favor, while both institutional and retail sentiment remain neutral, with only seasonality supporting GBP.
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