British Pound loses its footing as BoE hold meets Fed hike
- BoE holds at 3.75% with three policymakers backing a hike.
- Fed’s first hike in three years strengthens US Dollar policy advantage.
- UK Retail Sales take center stage after central-bank doubleheader.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) extends its losses on Thursday after the Bank of England's (BoE) decision to hold rates unchanged in a 6-3 vote, while leaving the door open for a potential hike. This, along with Wednesday Federal Reserve's (Fed) raise, capped the GBP/USD advance, with the pair trading at 1.3381, down over 0.23%.
Sterling weakens as BoE holds while Fed signals more tightening
As expected, the BoE maintained the Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75%, with three dissenters opting for a 25-basis-point rate hike, as seen at the previous meeting. BoE’s Greene, Mann and the Chief Economist Pill. In the same meeting, the BoE also decided to reduce UK bond (Gilt) purchases and to plan annual Gilt sales of up to £20 billion.
In the statement, the BoE said it is ready to act to ensure inflation reaches its target, that inflation risks are tilted to the upside, and that the required monetary policy will depend on the duration of the energy shock.
Following the BoE’s decision, money markets price in a 64% chance of a rate hike at the November 5 meeting. Now eyes turn to UK August Retail Sales on Friday, forecast to improve following a -0.5% MoM contraction in July.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised rates for the first time in three years, to 3.75%-4%, and recognized that the US economy remains solid and the labor market strong.
According to the Fed’s Summary of Economic Projections (SEP) dot plot, policymakers see another rate hike by the end of the year, meaning that the Fed funds rate is poised to end above the 4% threshold.
Officials expected the PCE to stay at 3.7% this year and to converge toward the Fed’s goal of 2% until 2028.
Data-wise, the US economic docket revealed that jobless claims for the week ending September 12 dipped sharply from 206K to 196K, well below the 208K forecast.
GBP/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook
In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades at 1.3343, maintaining a bearish near-term bias as spot holds below the triple simple moving average (SMA) cluster now around 1.3482 and beneath multiple broken trend-line supports that have turned into resistance. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 30 suggests downside momentum is flirting with oversold territory, yet price location under the key moving averages and the descending resistance lines still hints that rallies are likely to be capped rather than sustained.
On the topside, immediate resistance emerges at the former downtrend barrier around the break of the longer resistance line near 1.3347, followed by the more established descending trend-line from 1.3653, whose break level sits around 1.3457. Above there, the triple SMA cluster near 1.3482 aligns with the broken rising trend-line off 1.3140 at 1.3484, reinforcing a dense supply zone before the higher former support trend-line break around 1.3697. With no clear structural support levels defined below the market in this dataset, the pair appears vulnerable to further slippage until new demand emerges on fresh price action.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Canadian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.11% | 0.29% | -0.30% | 0.05% | -0.35% | -0.35% | -0.20% | |
| EUR | 0.11% | 0.40% | -0.16% | 0.16% | -0.26% | -0.22% | -0.07% | |
| GBP | -0.29% | -0.40% | -0.56% | -0.24% | -0.66% | -0.63% | -0.45% | |
| JPY | 0.30% | 0.16% | 0.56% | 0.29% | -0.06% | -0.10% | 0.07% | |
| CAD | -0.05% | -0.16% | 0.24% | -0.29% | -0.38% | -0.38% | -0.20% | |
| AUD | 0.35% | 0.26% | 0.66% | 0.06% | 0.38% | 0.03% | 0.16% | |
| NZD | 0.35% | 0.22% | 0.63% | 0.10% | 0.38% | -0.03% | 0.20% | |
| CHF | 0.20% | 0.07% | 0.45% | -0.07% | 0.20% | -0.16% | -0.20% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).
Author
Christian Borjon Valencia
FXStreet
Markets analyst, news editor, and trading instructor with over 14 years of experience across FX, commodities, US equity indices, and global macro markets.
