GBP/USD holds steady below 1.3600 amid upbeat mood

The GBP/USD pair remains subdued below 1.3600 in the Asian session following the previous session's decline. The pair touched the intraday high at 1.3598 before retreating toward the lower level. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3580, down 0.01% for the day.

The US Dollar Index (USD), which tracks the performance of the greenback against its six major rivals, trades near 94.30, finding some support from higher US T- bonds yields. The US benchmark Treasury yields soar 1.54% with more than 1% gains. The greenback is unfazed by the reports that US Senate leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats s deal to raise the US debt ceiling into December to avoid a federal debt default.

Meanwhile, the upbeat economic data underpins the attractiveness of the US dollar. The US private companies added 568k workers in September against the market expectations of 428K along with reports that Washington and Beijing have agreed to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year.

On the other hand, the British pound continues to grind lower despite the assurance from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He shrugged off Britain’s problem of empty gas stations, worker shortage and supply-side constraints while speaking at the party’s annual conference on Wednesday. The IHS Markit/ CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined to 52.6 in September as compared to market expectations of 54.0.

As for now, traders keep their focus on the UK Halifax House Price Index and US Initial Jobless Claims to gauge the market sentiment.

GBP/USD additional levels