The Norwegian krone continued to extend gains against the British pound during the Asian session, following a strong sell-off in sterling in yesterday’s trade.
Brexit concerns and arguably the most pivotal general election in the recent UK history continue to weigh on the pound.
Just two weeks before the election, Labour leader Corbyn has been accused of hostility toward the Jewish community by the UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis. He described Corbyn’s efforts to be fighting anti-Semitism as “mendacious fiction.”
Whether these accusations could have an impact on the election results will be partly reflected in the eagerly awaited MRP poll, which will be released today at 10 p.m. The MRP poll, which predicted Theresa May losing majority in the 2017 election, uses a much larger sample than a standard poll — around 50,000 people. It also uses advanced algorithms based on local factors to anticipate who will take each of the Parliament’s 632 seats.
The unemployment rate in Norway unexpectedly increased to 3.9% in the three months to October, missing market expectations of 3.7%. While this is the highest rate of unemployment since November 2018, the impact on the Norwegian krone seems largely muted at the moment.
Technicals show that the GBP/NOK pair still faces difficulties to break above the 11.85 level — a level that forms a strong horizontal resistance level on the daily chart and that aligns with the 61.8% Fib level.
Nevertheless, short-term technicals are bullish for the pair with an uptrend in the 4-hour chart and hidden bullish divergences forming in the RSI. To the downside, the November 22 low of 11.72 could provide support and push the price higher to retest the 11.85 level. As of 7:20 a.m. London time, the krone traded at 11.7825 against the pound.