Pound Sterling Price News & Forecast: GBP/USD dips but remains on track for weekly gains

FXStreet Team FXStreet

British Pound eases as UK sales drop, US services beat

The Pound Sterling loses some ground against the US Dollar, though it remains poised to end the week with gains of over 0.60%, even as UK Retail Sales disappointed investors and US business activity improved in August. The GBP/USD trades at 1.3626, down some 0.02%.

Data in the US was mixed, with S&P Global revealing Flash PMIs. On the positive side, the Services PMI in August rose from 54.6 to 56.8, crushing estimates of 54, while the Manufacturing PMI was 53.2, below estimates and July’s print of 53.9. Read more...

British Pound: Mixed data but Sterling supported – BBH

Brown Brothers Harriman’s (BBH) Elias Haddad says GBP/USD is firmer on broad US Dollar (USD) weakness despite mixed United Kingdom (UK) data. Haddad notes July retail sales fell, partly reversing prior strong gains, while the August PMI surprised to the upside with a four-month high composite reading. Haddad judges market pricing of 50 bps Bank of England (BoE) hikes over twelve months as too aggressive, though the UK’s growth-inflation mix still supports the Pound.

"GBP/USD is firmer on broad USD weakness. Today’s UK set of economic data was mixed. Retail sales declined in July, partly reversing the previous two months’ strong gains." Read more...

1.3670: British Pound hits six-month highs as UK PMI beats expectations

The British Pound (GBP) rallied to fresh six-month highs against the US Dollar (USD) on Friday, boosted by stronger-than-expected UK business activity data, while the US Dollar remains depressed following the US Treasury’s plan to boost bond buybacks. The GBP/USD pair has breached the 1.3660 level for the first time since February and is trading just above 1.3670 at the time of writing.

Preliminary data released by S&P Global revealed that July’s UK Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) improved to 52.8 from June’s 52.1 reading, against expectations of a slight decline to 51.8. Manufacturing Activity slowed down to 51.5, from 51.9 in the previous month, in line with market expectations, and the Composite PMI ticked up to 52.5 from 52.2 in June, also beating forecasts of a decline to 51.6. Read more...

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GBP/USD off highs, back to 1.3620

GBP/USD remains slightly on the defensive at the end of the week, receding to the low 1.3600s after hitting fresh tops past 1.3670 earlier in the day. Cable’s correction comes after two daily gains in a row and amid a tepid advance in the Greenback, while poor UK data also accompany the downside.

EUR/USD treads water below 1.1700

EUR/USD now trades with modest losses around 1.1670 following another unsuccessful atempt to advance past 1.1700 the figure in a convincing fashion. The pair’s decline follows a maginal rebound in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess recent US data as well as developments from the US bond market.

Gold trims gains, recedes to the sub-$4,600 area

Gold rapidly leaves behind Thursday’s inconclusive price action and advances markedly on Friday, briefly surpassing the $4,600 mark per troy ounce to hit three-month peaks. Meanwhile, the precious metal’s solid performance comes despite marginal gains in the buck coupled with another day of rising US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP bulls accelerate rally amid rising ETF inflows

The cryptocurrency market remains bullish on Friday, led by Bitcoin’s surge above $77,000. Altcoins, including Ethereum and Ripple, mirror BTC’s positive outlook, trading near $2,400 and $1.35, respectively.

Week ahead – Fed’s Jackson Hole and Nvidia earnings to dictate markets

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$20 billion offered, $2 billion taken: Why Treasury doubled its buyback cap

The US Treasury moved off its own calendar on Wednesday, and that is the part worth sitting with. At 12:32 GMT, the department said it would at least double the size of liquidity support buyback operations in the 10-year to 20-year and 20-year to 30-year sectors, lifting the maximum from $2 billion per operation to at least $4 billion, effective September 9 and running to November 4.