British Pound rises as Fed’s Waller tempers hike bets ahead of NFP
- GBP/USD rises as Waller’s neutral stance trims Fed hike bets.
- Strong ISM services data limits Sterling gains before NFP.
- BoE’s Pill backs higher rates, supporting Sterling resilience.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) rises against the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday as Federal Reserve (Fed) Governor Christopher Waller favors holding rates unchanged, shifting to a more neutral stance regarding monetary policy, while data showed that the US labor market is solid and that business activity improved. At the time of writing, GBP/USD trades at 1.3535, up 0.37%.
GBP/USD gains as Waller softens Fed risks before NFP
Waller said that if upcoming inflation data shows cooling, he would be inclined to allow the disinflation process to resume, as he sees the Fed funds rate as appropriate. Nevertheless, he admitted that if inflation comes hot, he would not hesitate to consider a rate hike.
His comments triggered a repricing in money markets, which, a day ago, priced in a more than 60% chance of a 25-basis-point (bps) rate hike. As of writing, the odds have shrunk to 54% for a rate rise and 46% for rates to stay steady.
Data-wise, the US ISM Services PMI in August was 55.4, exceeding forecasts of 54.3 and July’s 54.1. Some sub-components of the PMI showed that companies are complaining about higher prices, while the jobs market seems to have stabilized, though it remained in contractionary territory.
Other data showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose from 204K to 206K in the last week, a tick above the 205K expected, indicating a low-firing, low-hiring environment. Earlier, the Challenge, Gray & Christmas firm said that announced plans to hire by companies rose 37% in the first eight months of 2026, compared to the same period last year.
In the UK, the docket was absent, but Cable benefited from a potential intervention in the FX markets, as the Japanese Yen appreciated sharply against most G8 FX currencies.
Meanwhile, Bank of England (BoE) Chief Economist Huw Pill was hawkish, saying that “my own response has pointed to a need to raise Bank Rate to 4%.” He added that raising rates “may serve to head off some of the potential insidious catch-up dynamics.”
Now, traders' eyes are on the release of the US August Nonfarm Payrolls figures on Friday.
GBP/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook
In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades at 1.3531, holding above the latest triple simple moving average cluster around 1.3449 and a series of reclaimed trend-line levels, which collectively suggest a mildly bullish near-term bias. The pair is now trading over former descending resistance lines, while the Relative Strength Index (14) at 51.43 sits just above neutral, hinting at steady rather than impulsive upside momentum as price approaches the next key structural cap.
On the downside, immediate support is clustered between the broken resistance trend line at 1.3478, the composite triple simple moving average near 1.3449, and the secondary trend support around 1.3421, with additional protection seen at the earlier break level near 1.3378. On the topside, the upward-sloping trendline break at 1.3653 is the next notable resistance, and a sustained move above this barrier would open the path for a more decisive bullish extension in the coming sessions.
(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 US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.28% | -0.35% | -2.02% | -0.40% | -0.37% | -0.50% | -0.64% | |
| EUR | 0.28% | -0.08% | -1.77% | -0.18% | -0.08% | -0.29% | -0.36% | |
| GBP | 0.35% | 0.08% | -1.68% | -0.09% | -0.00% | -0.19% | -0.29% | |
| JPY | 2.02% | 1.77% | 1.68% | 1.64% | 1.69% | 1.50% | 1.42% | |
| CAD | 0.40% | 0.18% | 0.09% | -1.64% | 0.04% | -0.14% | -0.23% | |
| AUD | 0.37% | 0.08% | 0.00% | -1.69% | -0.04% | -0.18% | -0.25% | |
| NZD | 0.50% | 0.29% | 0.19% | -1.50% | 0.14% | 0.18% | -0.05% | |
| CHF | 0.64% | 0.36% | 0.29% | -1.42% | 0.23% | 0.25% | 0.05% |
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.
