GBPUSD Stop Hunt: Forex Chart Markups, 20 July 2026

The GBPUSD stop hunt on Monday 20 July 2026 took the stops above the Asian range early in London, printed 1.34809, and that turned out to be the high of the week: 69 pips lower that day and 185 by the end of the week. Because the high came on Monday, it does not count as a midweek reversal. We marked up 8 textbook setups, 5 partials and three weekly cycles.

The week in brief

• Markets: the seven forex majors and gold (XAUUSD, counted at 1 pip = $1), on 15-minute and 1-hour candles.
• Daily setups: 8 textbook and 5 partial.
• Weekly cycle: 3 of 8 markets turned midweek (AUDUSD, NZDUSD and XAUUSD).
• Setup of the week: GBPUSD on Monday, London stop hunt, 4 of 8 on confluence: 69 pips that day, 185 on the week.
• News in sync with a stop hunt: EUR HCOB Composite PMI (03:30), HCOB Manufacturing PMI (03:30), HCOB Services PMI (03:30), HCOB Composite PMI.

GBPUSD stop hunt: how to read these chart markups

New to these charts? Every markup reads price action in reverse. Retail traders are taught the same rules: buy the breakout, sell the breakdown, and put the stop just beyond the last high or low. So we know where their orders sit without seeing an order book. The blue box is the Asian range. The red crosses are retail stop losses. The hatched zone is the stop hunt, where price goes to collect them, and the big number in the header is what the reversal paid in pips. The full walkthrough is in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

The week at a glance: confluence ranking

Every daily setup of the week on one page, best first. The score is a tally of the eight confirmations the method lists, and the last column says what the rest of the week did with each level. USDCAD leads with 6 of 8.

The weekly cycle: induction, trap, reversal

The weekly cycle is the bigger picture behind every daily setup: an induction trend early in the week, the high or low of the week on Tuesday or Wednesday, then the reversal. We only draw it when the week actually turned, and each chart carries a checklist of which parts held. The idea is laid out in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

AUDUSD · 67-pip reversal. The trap printed the high of the week at 0.70264 on Tuesday 06:15 New York, and the reversal ran 67 pips to 0.69598 by Friday. 4 of 4 textbook checks held.

Gold (XAUUSD) · 144-pip reversal. The trap printed the high of the week at 4165.77 on Wednesday 11:45 New York, and the reversal ran 144 pips to 4021.66 by Friday. 2 of 4 textbook checks held; the miss: it ran 79 pips past Tuesday's high, more than a stop hunt.

NZDUSD · 111-pip reversal. The trap printed the high of the week at 0.58721 in Tuesday's session (Monday 22:00 New York), and the reversal ran 111 pips to 0.57606 by Friday. 3 of 4 textbook checks held; the miss: no induction trend, Sun to Mon ranged instead of trending.

No weekly cycle chart for EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDJPY, USDCHF and USDCAD: those markets did not make a midweek high or low and then reverse by at least 1.25 average daily ranges.

Setup of the week: GBPUSD London stop hunt, 20 July 2026

GBPUSD spent the Asian session in a 31-pip range between 1.34371 and 1.34686. London then pushed 12 pips past the Asian high, to 1.34809 at 03:30 New York and 0 pips through Friday's high (1.34805): the breakout the crowd buys. There was no first leg and neckline beyond the range, so this is a plain stop hunt of the Asian range, not an M or a W. Price did not continue. It reversed 69 pips to 1.34123 in 9h, through the whole Asian range.

Now read it in reverse. At each of those prices, whose orders were waiting?

Where the retail stops were

• Sellers' stops above the Asian high, 1.34686: taken by the stop hunt.
• Stops above Friday's high, 1.34805: taken by the stop hunt.
• Buyers' stops below the Asian low, 1.34371: taken as the reversal cleared the range.

The trade. The method sells against the breakout, on the stop hunt past the Asian high (1.34809). The stricter trigger, the first 15-minute close back inside, came with 14 pips of risk to the extreme and 55 pips to the low of the day, about 1 to 3.9. The method skips anything under 1 to 3, so from that trigger this one qualifies. These numbers are measured after the fact from 15-minute candles.

Confirmations: 4 of 8. It had a hunt at a session open, the previous day's level taken, the high or low of the week and induction from the week's open. Missing: a clear Asian range, a second-leg stop hunt, high-impact news in sync and a Tuesday or Wednesday date. It is the high of the week.

The mindset behind fading a breakout is in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup. For another stop hunt, on AUDUSD, see AUDUSD stop hunt, week of 24 August 2026.

Textbook setups, day by day

A setup is textbook when the reversal clears the whole Asian range, or runs at least three quarters of the pair's average daily range. The daily cycle behind all of them, Asia consolidating, London breaking out and the reversal after, is covered in How to Read a Forex Chart Markup.

Monday · EURUSD · London stop hunt (47 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 1.14495 (03:30 New York); price reversed 47 pips, through the whole Asian range. Confluence 2 of 8. It was the high of the week.

Monday · USDCHF · London stop hunt (47 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 0.80609 (03:45 New York); price reversed 47 pips, through the whole Asian range. Confluence 3 of 8. It was the low of the week.

Monday · USDJPY · London stop hunt (40 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 162.195 (07:30 New York); price reversed 40 pips, through the whole Asian range. Confluence 2 of 8. It was the low of the week.

Tuesday · USDCAD · W formation (57 pips). The second leg took the stops below the first leg at 1.40539 (06:00 New York); price reversed 57 pips, through the whole Asian range. Confluence 3 of 8. The low held for the rest of the week.

Wednesday · GBPUSD · Both sides hunted (41 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 1.33950 (03:30 New York); price reversed 41 pips, through the whole Asian range. Then the other side was hunted at 08:45 New York, 12 pips under the Asian low. Confluence 3 of 8. The high held for the rest of the week.

Friday · EURUSD · Both sides hunted (36 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 1.14011 (03:30 New York); price reversed 36 pips, through the whole Asian range. Then the other side was hunted at 09:00 New York, 8 pips under the Asian low. Confluence 2 of 8. The high held for the rest of the week.

Friday · USDCAD · Both sides hunted (49 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 1.40656 (03:30 New York); price reversed 49 pips, through the whole Asian range. Then the other side was hunted at 09:00 New York, 28 pips above the Asian high. Confluence 2 of 8. The low held for the rest of the week.

Partial setups: the structure without the follow-through

These printed the structure, but the reversal stalled inside the Asian range. They are worth studying for exactly that reason: the trap was real and the payoff was small.

Monday · Gold (XAUUSD) · London stop hunt (42 pips). London took the stops above the Asian high at 4040.43 (07:30 New York); price reversed 42 pips, back inside the Asian range. Confluence 1 of 8. Tuesday traded back through it.

Tuesday · AUDUSD · M formation (29 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 0.70264 (06:15 New York); price reversed 29 pips, back inside the Asian range. Confluence 4 of 8. It was the high of the week.

Wednesday · USDJPY · London stop hunt (50 pips). London took the stops below the Asian low at 162.674 (03:30 New York); price reversed 50 pips, back inside the Asian range. Confluence 3 of 8. The low held for the rest of the week.

Wednesday · AUDUSD · New York stop hunt (21 pips). New York took the stops below the Asian low at 0.69797 (08:45 New York); price reversed 21 pips, back inside the Asian range. Confluence 3 of 8. Thursday traded back through it.

Thursday · USDCAD · M formation (25 pips). The second leg took the stops above the first leg at 1.40994 (11:30 New York); price reversed 25 pips, back inside the Asian range. Confluence 2 of 8. Friday traded back through it.

Daily and weekly confluence, pair by pair

Each chart pins a pair's daily setups on its hourly chart for the week. The solid line is the move that day, the dashed line is how far it ran before the level was traded back through, and a gold band marks a weekly reversal. The table under each chart ticks the confirmations.

EURUSD. 3 setups, best 2 of 8 (Monday, London stop hunt at the high). No midweek reversal.

GBPUSD. 3 setups, best 6 of 8 (Wednesday, W off the low). No midweek reversal.

USDJPY. 2 setups, best 3 of 8 (Wednesday, London stop hunt at the low). No midweek reversal.

USDCHF. 1 setup, best 3 of 8 (Monday, London stop hunt at the low). No midweek reversal.

AUDUSD. 2 setups, best 4 of 8 (Tuesday, M off the high).

USDCAD. 4 setups, best 6 of 8 (Friday, M off the high). No midweek reversal.

Gold (XAUUSD). 1 setup, best 1 of 8 (Monday, London stop hunt at the high).

What this week teaches about reverse price action

Not every week waits for Wednesday. GBPUSD put in its high in the first London session and never came back, so anyone waiting for a Tuesday or Wednesday trap to sell had nothing to do. That is why the daily cycle stands on its own: an Asian range, a push through one side in London, and no continuation. The weekly cycle is a concept that adds confidence when it agrees. It is not a rule the market owes you.

On the news itself: the event gives the crowd its reason, and the chart shows where the orders already were.

Frequently asked questions

What was the best forex setup in the week of 20 July 2026?

By confluence, USDCAD on Friday: an M off the high that scored 6 of 8. It moved 40 pips that day and 40 on the week. It was the high of the week.

Was there a midweek reversal in the week of 20 July 2026?

Yes, on 3 of the 8 markets we track: AUDUSD, NZDUSD and Gold (XAUUSD). The largest was AUDUSD, 67 pips from the high of the week at 0.70264.

What is a stop hunt in forex?

A stop hunt is a push through an obvious high or low, where retail stop losses and breakout orders are clustered, followed by a reversal. The push triggers the stops and fills the breakout traders in the same moment, and that burst of orders is the liquidity larger players need.

What does "both sides hunted" mean?

It means the stops above the Asian high and the stops below the Asian low were both taken on the same day. One session hunts one side, the reversal runs through the whole range, and the other side is hunted before the day picks a direction.

Related chart markups

• Previous week: USDJPY W formation, week of 13 July 2026
• Next week: USDJPY midweek reversal, week of 27 July 2026
• AUDUSD stop hunt, week of 24 August 2026: another stop hunt, on AUDUSD
• USDCAD M formation, week of 25 May 2026: another stop hunt, on USDCAD
• USDCHF stop hunt, week of 21 September 2026: another stop hunt, on USDCHF
• All forex chart markups, week by week
• How to Read a Forex Chart Markup: what every mark on these charts means

Learn to read the chart this way. The Forexia Academy courses cover the Asian range, M and W formations and the weekly cycle step by step. Browse the courses.

These chart markups are made after the fact, for study. They are not signals and not trade advice. Candles: Dukascopy. Economic calendar: FXStreet. All times are New York. Stop-loss positions are the method's reading of the structure, not order-book data.