GBP/USD pushes near 1.3850 amid USD retreat, UK data eyed
- GBP/USD tracks higher on Friday in the Asian trading hours.
- US Dollar Index retreats from the previous day’s high to trade stable near 92.50.
- The sterling gains on hawkish BOE view, UK data eyed.
The GPD/USD extends the previous session’s gain on Friday and continues to extend the gains toward 1.3850. The pair is expected to close the week on a higher note.
At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3847, up 0.08% for the day.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the greenback performance against its six major rivals, retreats from the higher levels following a downtick in the US 10-year benchmark Treasury yields.
Investors remained pessimistic about the rising coronavirus cases and their impact on the economic recovery. President Joe Biden announced an anti-vaccine movement on Thursday. He took aim at vaccine resistance in America. Adding to the optimism were the Biden-Xi talks.
On the data front, the US Initial Jobless Claims fell to a fresh pandemic low. The claims fell more than market expectation to 310K, after disappointing NFP data in the previous week
On the other hand, the sterling rallied following the optimism about the expectations of the Bank of England‘s (BOE) interest rate hike decision sooner than expected in the first half of 2022.
Furthermore, the gains were limited after the Leader of the Northern Ireland’s (NI) largest British unionist party highlighted post-Brexit tensions.
As for now, investors turn their attention to the UK’s Balance of Trade, Industrial Production, and US PPI data to trade fresh trading impetus.
GBP/USD additional levels