Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD softens to near 1.3240 in Asian session

British Pound drifts lower below 1.3250 on steady BoE rate path, traders await US jobs data

The GBP/USD pair loses traction to around 1.3240 during the Asian trading hours on Tuesday. A potential rate hike from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) provides some support to the US Dollar (USD) against the British Pound (GBP). The US ADP employment data and the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data will take center stage later this week.

The US central bank decided to leave the interest rates unchanged at its June policy meeting, but policymakers expect a rate hike later this year amid growing concerns about inflation lodged above the US central bank’s 2% target. Traders are now pricing in nearly a 60% probability of an interest rate hike from the Fed by September, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Read more...

British Pound holds below 1.3250 after a downward revision of UK GDP

The British Pound (GBP) is giving away previous gains against the US Dollar (USD) on Tuesday, weighed by the downward revision of the UK’s Q1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data. The GBP/USD pair is trading just above session highs at 1.3222 at the time of writing after failing to break above the top of last week’s trading range, at the 1.3270 area.

UK economy grew at a 0.6% pace in the first three months of the year, according to the final estimation released by the Office for National Statistics. These figures have been left unchanged from previous estimates, but the year-on-year rate has been revised down to 0.9%, from the previously estimated 1.1%. Read more...