GBP/USD stays pressured below 1.4200 amid higher US Treasury yields

• GBP/USD is set to decline in the Asian session on Friday.
• Higher US Treasury yields underpin the demand for the US dollar.
• Critical US PCE data eagerly waited.

The GBP/USD pair lost part of its previous day’s gain in the Asian session. The decline from the highs of 1.4220 can be traced back to the rebound in the US dollar.

At the time of writing, the GBP/USD pair is trading at 1.4190 down 0.11% on the day.

Market participant’s trading positions were under the influence of the inflationary anxiety ahead of the US Personal Consumer Expenditure, Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation measures.

Against this backdrop, Fed officials reassured on the continuation of the ultra easy monetary policy and shrugged off the inflationary fears as transitory. 

But some divergent tones disrupt the market mood. Dallas Fed Kaplan said improved labor market conditions call for taper talks, which echoed  Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida comments on the timing of the start of tapering measures as the economy continued to show signs of growth.

The upbeat string of US economic data, with the latest Jobless claims which fell to 406K lowest since the pandemic first hit the labor market in March 2020. US Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) grew by 6.4% in line with the market expectations, and pending home sales data surged to 51.7% YoY in April.

The US Treasury yields rose to 1.6% post economic data in the New York session. The US dollar followed the benchmark yields and regained the 90.00 mark with 0.12% gains.

The USD valuation and inflationary fear keep GBP/USD bulls' nerve in check.

On the other hand, the sterling remains grounded against the US dollar, after Bank of England (BOE) policymaker Gertjan Vileghe hinted that the central bank will start raising interest rates sooner than expected in 2022 if economic recovery remained stronger than forecasted. Earlier, the central bank in its forecast projected the economy to grow by 7.5% in 2021 before slowing down in 2022.
The sterling bulls remain hopeful on re-opening of the economy as the country enters stage four phase of reopening on June 21, despite the Indian-variant virus threat.

As for now,  the central theme remains the inflation and the rate hike expectations, which would influence the pair for the time being.

Investors are gearing up for the US Personal Income/ Spending Data, Goods Trade Balance. Personal Consumption Expenditure,  Chicago PMI, and Michigan Consumer Expectations.
 

GBP/USD Additional Levels