Pound Sterling underperforms against its peers as Fed-BoE policy takes centre stage

The Pound Sterling struggles against its major currency peers ahead of the BoE’s interest rate decision on Thursday.
This week, both the Fed and the BoE are expected to hold interest rates steady.
Speculation that the BoE would reduce interest rates in March has weakened due to the Middle East conflicts.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The Pound Sterling (GBP) trades lower against its major currency peers, except the New Zealand Dollar (NZD), is down 0.27% to near 1.3280 against the US Dollar during the European trading session on Tuesday. The British currency faces selling pressure amid uncertainty surrounding the Bank of England’s monetary policy announcement on Thursday.

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 US Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.14%	0.19%	0.19%	0.02%	0.01%	0.62%	0.10%
EUR	-0.14%		0.05%	0.05%	-0.11%	-0.13%	0.48%	-0.04%
GBP	-0.19%	-0.05%		0.02%	-0.17%	-0.18%	0.43%	-0.09%
JPY	-0.19%	-0.05%	-0.02%		-0.15%	-0.17%	0.44%	-0.08%
CAD	-0.02%	0.11%	0.17%	0.15%		-0.01%	0.60%	0.08%
AUD	-0.01%	0.13%	0.18%	0.17%	0.01%		0.61%	0.09%
NZD	-0.62%	-0.48%	-0.43%	-0.44%	-0.60%	-0.61%		-0.52%
CHF	-0.10%	0.04%	0.09%	0.08%	-0.08%	-0.09%	0.52%

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).

Investors expect the BoE to leave interest rates unchanged at 3.75%, with a 7-2 majority, as conflicts in the Middle East, which involve the United States (US), Israel, and Iran, have prompted inflation expectations in the United Kingdom (UK) and the entire world.

Before the Iran conflicts, traders were confident that the BoE would cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 3.5%. Dovish BoE expectations were prompted by deteriorating job market conditions and signs of slowing inflationary pressures.

For fresh cues on the current state of the UK job market, investors will focus on the employment data for the three months ending January, which will be released on Thursday. According to estimates, the ILO Unemployment Rate remained steady at 5.2%, and Average Earnings Excluding Bonuses, a key measure of wage growth, cooled down to 4% Year-on-Year (YoY) from the previous reading of 4.2%.

Meanwhile, a slight recovery in the US Dollar after correcting on Monday has also weakened the GBP/USD pair. During the press time, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades 0.15% higher to near 100.00.

Going forward, the major trigger for the US Dollar will be the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. Investors expect the Fed to leave interest rates unchanged in the current range of 3.50%-3.75%.

Economic Indicator

BoE Interest Rate Decision

The Bank of England (BoE) announces its interest rate decision at the end of its eight scheduled meetings per year. If the BoE is hawkish about the inflationary outlook of the economy and raises interest rates it is usually bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP). Likewise, if the BoE adopts a dovish view on the UK economy and keeps interest rates unchanged, or cuts them, it is seen as bearish for GBP.

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