Pound Sterling faces pressure in countdown to BoE decision
- The Pound Sterling trades cautiously ahead of the BoE policy announcement on Thursday.
- Investors expect the BoE to leave interest rates unchanged.
- The US Dollar retraces after a two-day rally due to the partial US government shutdown.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) trades lower against its major currency peers on Tuesday as traders shift their focus to the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy announcement on Thursday.
The BoE is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.75%, with a 7-2 majority, suggesting that the decision will be almost unanimous this time after very divided outcomes in the previous two meetings.
Market participants predict that the BoE will maintain the status quo after the United Kingdom (UK) central bank delivered a 25 basis points (bps) reduction in interest rates in December and reiterated that the monetary policy will remain on a “gradual downward path”.
In addition to the BoE interest rate decision itself, investors will focus on Governor Andrew Bailey’s press conference to get fresh cues over the job market and inflation outlook. In the last meeting, BoE officials expressed confidence that “inflation will come closer to 2%” in the second quarter of 2026.
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.00% | 0.04% | 0.22% | 0.05% | -0.78% | -0.51% | -0.19% | |
| EUR | 0.00% | 0.04% | 0.22% | 0.05% | -0.78% | -0.50% | -0.19% | |
| GBP | -0.04% | -0.04% | 0.19% | 0.01% | -0.82% | -0.54% | -0.23% | |
| JPY | -0.22% | -0.22% | -0.19% | -0.15% | -0.98% | -0.72% | -0.40% | |
| CAD | -0.05% | -0.05% | -0.01% | 0.15% | -0.83% | -0.56% | -0.24% | |
| AUD | 0.78% | 0.78% | 0.82% | 0.98% | 0.83% | 0.28% | 0.58% | |
| NZD | 0.51% | 0.50% | 0.54% | 0.72% | 0.56% | -0.28% | 0.31% | |
| CHF | 0.19% | 0.19% | 0.23% | 0.40% | 0.24% | -0.58% | -0.31% |
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).
Daily Digest Market Movers: Pound Sterling trades lower against US Dollar, Euro
- The Pound Sterling trades marginally lower to near 1.3660 against the US Dollar (USD) and around 0.8630 against the Euro (EUR) during the European trading session on Tuesday. The GBP/USD pair drops as the US Dollar (USD) trades firmly despite uncertainty due to the partial US federal government shutdown.
- At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades close to its weekly high of 97.73 posted on Monday.
- The US Dollar has been outperforming from the last two trading days, following Kevin Warsh’s nomination as the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) new chairman and fresh survey data suggesting that the United States (US) manufacturing sector returned into growth.
- On Monday, the ISM reported that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) jumped to 52.6 in January from 47.9 in December. A figure above 50 indicates expansion in business activity.
- Going forward, investors will focus on the US ADP Employment Change and the ISM Services PMI data for January. Investors will pay close attention to the US private-sector employment data to get fresh cues on the labor demand. The delay in the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data release for an unknown period amid the government shutdown also increases the significance of the private job data.
- Meanwhile, the EUR/GBP pair ticks up ahead of monetary policy announcements by both the BoE and the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday. The ECB is expected to leave interest rates unchanged as price pressures have broadly remained close to the Eurozone central bank’s target.
- Ahead of the ECB policy announcement, investors will focus on the Eurozone preliminary Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data for January, which will be released on Wednesday.
Technical Analysis: GBP/USD sees immediate support near 20-day EMA
GBP/USD trades higher at around 1.3685 at the time of writing. Above the rising 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), the pair maintains a bullish near-term structure. The 20-day EMA has curled higher in recent sessions, confirming renewed trend strength.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) finds cushion near 60.00 after cooling down from overbought levels around 80.00, backing scope for a fresh rally.
A daily close under the average could slow the advance and pivot the pair into consolidation, whereas sustained strength above it would keep buyers in control.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Economic Indicator
ISM Manufacturing PMI
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), released on a monthly basis, is a leading indicator gauging business activity in the US manufacturing sector. The indicator is obtained from a survey of manufacturing supply executives based on information they have collected within their respective organizations. Survey responses reflect the change, if any, in the current month compared to the previous month. A reading above 50 indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding, a bullish sign for the US Dollar (USD). A reading below 50 signals that factory activity is generally declining, which is seen as bearish for USD.
Read more.Last release: Mon Feb 02, 2026 15:00
Frequency: Monthly
Actual: 52.6
Consensus: 48.5
Previous: 47.9
Source: Institute for Supply Management
The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) provides a reliable outlook on the state of the US manufacturing sector. A reading above 50 suggests that the business activity expanded during the survey period and vice versa. PMIs are considered to be leading indicators and could signal a shift in the economic cycle. Stronger-than-expected prints usually have a positive impact on the USD. In addition to the headline PMI, the Employment Index and the Prices Paid Index numbers are watched closely as they shine a light on the labour market and inflation.
Author
Sagar Dua
FXStreet
Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.
