Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD bulls turn cautious amid the emergence of some USD buying

GBP/USD Price Prediction: Consolidates below 1.3100 and YTD peak, bullish potential intact

The GBP/USD pair oscillates in a narrow band during the Asian session on Thursday and remains within striking distance of its highest level since July 2023, around the 1.3120 area touched the previous day. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.3085 region, nearly unchanged for the day, as traders now look to the flash PMIs from the UK and the US for short-term opportunities. 

In the meantime, a modest uptick in the US Treasury bond yields assists the US Dollar (USD) in recovering a bit from the YTD low touched on Wednesday. This, in turn, is seen as a key factor acting as a headwind for the GBP/USD pair, though diminishing odds for another interest rate cut by the Bank of England (BoE) in September lend some support. Furthermore, increasing bets for a more aggressive policy easing by the Federal Reserve (Fed) should cap gains for the buck and contribute to limiting losses for the currency pair. Read more...

GBP/USD chalks in a fifth straight gain on Wednesday

GBP/USD briefly tested chart paper on the high side of 1.3100 on Wednesday as Cable continues to push deeper into bull country. The pair is marching into fresh 13-month highs, setting a peak intraday bid of 1.3112, and the Sterling is threatening to cross into its highest prices against the Greenback since April of 2022.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced a steep cut of over 800K jobs to March’s Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) jobs print, sharply revising previous job growth figures to the low side. The tilt in hiring numbers prompted markets to add to bets of a double cut from the Federal Reserve (Fed) in September. Rate cut bets pinned even higher on Wednesday after the Fed’s latest Meeting Minutes revealed policymakers in the US central bank had already begun discussions about when to begin cutting interest rates as early as July. Read more...