Pound Sterling trades lower ahead of Fed Powell's speech at Jackson Hole Symposium

The Pound Sterling drops to near 1.3400 against the US Dollar as the latter trades firmly.
Investors await Fed Powell’s speech for fresh cues on the monetary policy outlook.
Flash UK S&P Global Composite PMI for August beats estimates.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The Pound Sterling (GBP) posts a fresh two-week low around 1.3400 against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Friday. The GBP/USD pair extends its losing streak for the fifth trading day as the US Dollar continues to outperform on the back of easing Federal Reserve (Fed) dovish speculation for the September monetary policy meeting.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, refreshes a 10-day high near 98.80 during European trading hours.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) in September has eased to 73.3% from 85.4% seen a week ago.

Dovish expectations have eased ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium, scheduled at 14:00 GMT, in which he is expected to reiterate his argument that monetary policy adjustments are inappropriate until the central bank gains absolute clarity about the tariff-impact on inflation and the economy.

"With another inflation and payrolls print still due before the September meeting, Powell has every reason to stay patient and keep optionality open," analysts at Saxo said.

Meanwhile, the comments from Kansas City Fed Bank President Jeffrey Schmid on Thursday also signaled that there is no rush for interest rate cuts as inflation is still above the central bank’s target of 2%. "Not in a hurry to cut interest rates as the inflation number is likely closer to 3 than 2, and there is work to do," Schmid said, Reuters reported. Investors should note that Schmid is a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Pound Sterling trades broadly stable after upbeat flash UK PMI data

The Pound Sterling trades calmly against its major peers on Friday after the release of the upbeat preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for August on Thursday.
The report showed that the Composite PMI expanded at a faster-than-expected pace to 53.0 due to a robust growth in activities in the services sector. The agency also reported that new business has returned to growth in August after declining moderately in July. However, the continuation of lay-offs and rising prices charged by private players to offset the impact of an increase in National Insurance (NI) costs will remain key concerns for Bank of England (BoE) officials.
The BoE would need to perform a delicate balancing act while announcing the interest rate decision in the September monetary policy meeting due to weak labor demand and escalating inflationary pressures.
In the policy meeting earlier this month, the BoE reduced interest rates by 25 bps to 4%, with a narrow majority, and reiterated a “gradual and careful” monetary easing guidance.
This week, the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for July showed that both headline and core inflation grew at a faster-than-projected pace of 3.8% on year.
On the global front, the uncertainty over a truce between Russia and Ukraine has increased after Moscow’s mass overnight attack in Kyiv on Thursday. This came at a time when US President Donald Trump is pushing both nations to come to the table to end the three-year-long war. “Now the signals from Russia are simply, to be honest, indecent," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, Reuters reported.
Earlier this week, US President Trump met with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy to discuss concessions on ending the war in Ukraine after meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on August 15.

Pound Sterling Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.07%	-0.03%	0.21%	0.01%	-0.02%	0.15%	0.15%
EUR	-0.07%		-0.06%	0.10%	-0.04%	-0.14%	0.09%	0.11%
GBP	0.03%	0.06%		0.18%	0.02%	-0.08%	0.17%	0.17%
JPY	-0.21%	-0.10%	-0.18%		-0.20%	-0.23%	-0.12%	-0.10%
CAD	-0.01%	0.04%	-0.02%	0.20%		-0.09%	0.14%	0.15%
AUD	0.02%	0.14%	0.08%	0.23%	0.09%		0.24%	0.24%
NZD	-0.15%	-0.09%	-0.17%	0.12%	-0.14%	-0.24%		0.00%
CHF	-0.15%	-0.11%	-0.17%	0.10%	-0.15%	-0.24%	-0.01%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).

Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling struggles to hold 1.3400

The Pound Sterling slides to near 1.3400 against the US Dollar on Friday. The near-term trend of the GBP/USD pair has become uncertain as it has dropped below the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which trades around 1.3450.

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) drops towards 40.00. A fresh bearish momentum would emerge if the RSI breaks below that level.

Looking down, the August 11 low of 1.3400 will act as a key support zone. On the upside, the July 1 high near 1.3790 will act as a key barrier.

Economic Indicator

Fed's Chair Powell speech

Jerome H. Powell took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on May 25, 2012, to fill an unexpired term. On November 2, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Powell to serve as the next Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Powell assumed office as Chair on February 5, 2018.

GBP/USD remains slightly bid near 1.3300

GBP/USD now advances marginally and manages to dispute the 1.3300 region on Tuesday. Indeed, Cable regains some balance on the back of the lacklustre performance of the Greenback, all preceding the Fed’s meeting on Wednesday and the BoE’s gathering on Thursday.

EUR/USD recedes from tops, back below 1.1400

EUR/USD manages to set aside part of the recent weakness and clinches decent gains on Tuesday. Indeed, spot keeps the trade below the 1.1400 mark amid acceptable losses in the US Dollar, all following rising optimism of a US-Iran deal and steady caution prior to the FOMC gathering on Wednesday.

Gold bounces on poor US data

Gold remains under marked downside pressure on Tuesday, although the $4,000 zone per troy ounce emerges as a decent support for now. The precious metal’s pullback comes despite the modest losses in the US Dollar in a context of easing geopolitical tensions ahead of the key Fed event on Wednesday.

Australia CPI could boost Aussie if inflation arrives above 4%

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will publish the June Consumer Price Index on Wednesday at 01:30 GMT. The report is expected to show that inflation rose 4% from a year earlier, matching the May reading. The monthly CPI is foreseen at 0.2% following the -0.7% print from May. The ABS will also release the Trimmed Mean CPI, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s favorite inflation gauge.

Indian Rupee outlook: Downtrend set to persist – Just at a slower pace

The Indian Rupee just endured its most brutal six-month stretch in years, battered by a perfect storm of global shocks. From United States-India trade uncertainty to surging Oil prices and the significant outflow of Foreign Institutional Investment from the Indian stock market, every event brought nothing but pain for the Indian currency.

US Dollar mid-year outlook: Exceptional currency, exceptional risks?

The US Dollar enters the second half of 2026 in a markedly different position from a year ago. The King currency has recovered, reflecting persistent US inflation, changing expectations for Fed policy, geopolitical tensions and renewed demand for defensive assets.