Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD struggles to gain any meaningful traction on Friday

FXStreet Team FXStreet

GBP/USD consolidates above mid-1.2900s; remains close to multi-month peak set on Thursday

The GBP/USD pair lacks any firm intraday direction on Friday and oscillates in a narrow trading band, around the 1.2960 area during the Asian session. Spot prices, however, remain close to the highest since early November – levels beyond the 1.3000 psychological mark touched on Thursday – and remain at the mercy of the US Dollar (USD) price dynamics.

The Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained its forecast for two 25 basis points rate cuts in 2025 at the end of March policy meeting on Wednesday and gave a bump higher to its inflation projection. Adding to this, the uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs and escalating geopolitical tensions underpin the safe-haven Greenback and turns out to be a key factor acting as a headwind for the GBP/USD pair. Read more...

GBP/USD drops as BoE holds rates, hints uncertainty on future cuts

The British Pound (GBP) depreciated against the US Dollar (USD) after the Bank of England (BoE) decided to keep rates unchanged and warned about interest rate cuts due to “a lot of economic uncertainty at the moment,” said BoE Governor Andrew Bailey. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading at 1.2964, down 0.29%.

Traders are still digesting the BoE’s decision, which wasn’t unanimous, with Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Swati Dhingra being the dissenter, with her voting for a 25 basis points rate cut (bps). Read more...

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FXStreet Team

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EUR/USD drops to daily lows near 1.1630

EUR/USD now loses some traction and slips back to the area of daily lows around 1.1630 on the back of a mild bounce in the US Dollar. Fresh US data, including the September PCE inflation numbers and the latest read on December consumer sentiment, didn’t really move the needle, so the pair is still on course to finish the week with a respectable gain.

GBP/USD trims gains, recedes toward 1.3320

GBP/USD is struggling to keep its daily advance, coming under fresh pressure and retreating to the 1.3320 zone following a mild bullish attempt in the Greenback. Even though US consumer sentiment surprised to the upside, the US Dollar isn’t getting much love, as traders are far more interested in what the Fed will say next week.

Gold makes a U-turn, back to $4,200

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