GBP/USD struggles to gain any meaningful traction

GBP/USD lacks any firm intraday direction, consolidates in a range above mid-1.2600s

The GBP/USD pair fails to capitalize on the previous day’s modest recovery from the vicinity of the 1.2600 mark, or a near three-week low and oscillates in a narrow band during the Asian session on Thursday. Spot prices currently trade around the 1.2660 region, nearly unchanged for the day.

The British Pound (GBP) is undermined by the fact that business leaders in the UK are more pessimistic about the outlook for the economy and are pushing the Bank of England (BoE) to start cutting rates early this year. In fact, the money market pricing suggests that traders expect around 140 basis points (bps) of rate cuts in 2024. Apart from this, a modest US Dollar (USD) strength is seen acting as a headwind for the GBP/USD pair. Read more…

GBP/USD posts modest losses above the mid-1.2600s ahead of US ADP report

The GBP/USD pair posts modest losses during the early Asian session on Thursday. The recovery of the US Dollar (USD) and US Treasury bond yields exerts some selling pressure on the pair. At the press time, GBP/USD is trading at 1.2665, up 0.01% on the day. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) surges to 102.45, the highest in three weeks.

On Wednesday, the US ISM Manufacturing PMI arrived at 47.4 versus 46.7 prior, better than the expectation of 47.1. Additionally, the labour market gauge of JOLTs Job Openings came in weaker than the estimation of 8.79M in November. Read more…