The Pound-to-Canadian-Dollar Rate in the Week Ahead: Mixed Signals Coming from the Charts

The Pound-to-Canadian-Dollar rate was trading around 1.7692 Monday after a week that saw it little changed by the Friday close, although the market is now at a technical inflection point and the path ahead uncertain given mixed signals coming from the charts. 

The Canadian Dollar ceded ground to rivals Friday after official figures painted a bleak picture of Canada's economy at the beginning of the New Year, vindicating the Bank of Canada (BoC) for having stepped back from an earlier pledge to lift interest rates aggressively in 2019. 

The Canadian Dollar is on course to hit fresh 2019 lows against its U.S. rival over the coming months, according to strategists at HSBC, who've told clients they expect the Bank of Canada (BoC) to continue retreating from its once-hawkish interest rate stance.

The Pound-to-Canadian Dollar rate is to begin trading around 1.7719 Sunday after rising more than 1.5% in the previous week, although technical studies of the charts suggest the exchange rate is close to having exhausted its uptrend. 

TD Securities have downgraded their forecast for the Canadian Dollar, eyeing a softening of activity in the domestic economy.

The Pound-to-Canadian-Dollar rate is vulnerable to sharp declines while close to recent multi-month highs so traders should keep selling the British currency upon spikes higher for now, according to technical analysts at Canada's Scotiabank. 

The GBP/CAD outlook is now marginally bearish after the pair rose up and touched the top of a long-term sideways range, between roughly 1.75 and 1.68, and reversed lower.

A look at the GBP/CAD and USD/CAD exchange rates from a technical perspective following a sharp slump in the Canadian Dollar midweek which was triggered by the Bank of Canada adopting a more cautious-than-expected stance on monetary policy.