GBP/USD climbs as US Dollar stalls amid trade uncertainty
- GBP/USD rises as US trade policy uncertainty leaves the US Dollar range-bound.
- Governor Andrew Bailey signals possible March cut, markets price modest easing by the Bank of England.
- Fed's Austan Goolsbee warns against front-loading cuts without clear disinflation evidence.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) advances during the North American session on Wednesday as the Greenback remains unchanged amid uncertainty over US trade policies, with investors awaiting results of one of the seven megacap companies after the Wall Street close. At the time of writing, GBP/USD trades at 1.3523, up 0.29%.
Sterling gains near 1.3520 as cautious Fed tone and BoE easing bets keep traders on edge
The scarce economic data in the US and the UK left traders adrift to comments by Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England (BoE) officials, along with investors’ expectations for monetary policy.
On Tuesday, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said a rate cut in March is possible but acknowledged that inflation services remain high. In the last meeting, the UK central bank kept the Bank Rate unchanged on a narrow 5-4 vote split, seen by the financial markets as a dovish hold.
As of writing, money markets have priced in so far 18 basis points of easing towards the March 19 meeting.
Across the US, Fed officials crossed the wires, with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee saying that cuts are appropriate if inflation falls, adding that he is concerned about “front loading” rate reductions due to the lack of evidence that inflation is falling towards the Fed’s 2% goal.
In the meantime, Boston Fed Susan Collins and Richmond’s Fed Thomas Barkin stated that they see a stable but loosening labor market and uneven inflation progress.
For the upcoming meeting, investors do not expect the Fed to cut rates. However, for the rest of the year, traders had priced in 50 basis points of easing, according to Prime Market Terminal data.
Fed, BoE officials to cross newswires
On Thursday, the UK economic docket will remain absent, yet BoE’s Lombardelli will hit the wires. In the US, traders focus will be on Initial Jobless Claims and a speech by Fed Governor Michelle Bowman.
GBP/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook
In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades at 1.3528. The pair sits between an ascending support trend line from 1.3035 and a descending resistance line from 1.3869, keeping the near-term bias neutral with a slight topside tilt as price holds above the clustered simple moving averages around 1.3530–1.3540. The upward-sloping support line continues to underpin the sequence of higher lows, while repeated failures to extend below the moving average group suggest buyers still defend dips despite fading FXS Fed Sentiment Index readings that signal waning broader optimism.
Immediate resistance is aligned with the descending trend line, now capping the upside near 1.3560, and a clear break above this area would open the way toward the recent swing region around 1.3680, followed by 1.3835. On the downside, initial support is seen at the ascending trend line breakout area around 1.3550 turning into a nearby floor, with a drop back under 1.3500 exposing deeper support toward 1.3460 and then the 1.3400 area, where prior reactions cluster along the rising trend structure.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Pound Sterling Price This week
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies this week. British Pound was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.04% | -0.28% | 0.97% | 0.06% | -0.21% | 0.02% | -0.20% | |
| EUR | -0.04% | -0.31% | 0.94% | 0.03% | -0.26% | -0.02% | -0.22% | |
| GBP | 0.28% | 0.31% | 1.44% | 0.34% | 0.02% | 0.29% | 0.10% | |
| JPY | -0.97% | -0.94% | -1.44% | -0.89% | -1.15% | -0.89% | -1.16% | |
| CAD | -0.06% | -0.03% | -0.34% | 0.89% | -0.28% | 0.00% | -0.25% | |
| AUD | 0.21% | 0.26% | -0.02% | 1.15% | 0.28% | 0.24% | 0.04% | |
| NZD | -0.02% | 0.02% | -0.29% | 0.89% | -0.00% | -0.24% | -0.20% | |
| CHF | 0.20% | 0.22% | -0.10% | 1.16% | 0.25% | -0.04% | 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.
