Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP/USD consolidation likely near term

GBP/USD: Consolidation likely near term – OCBC

The Pound Sterling (GBP) rose on betterthan-expected labor market report. GBP was last at 1.2693 against the US Dollar (USD), OCBC’s FX analyst Frances Cheung and Christopher Wong note. “Employment change jumped +173k (vs. 5k expected) while weekly earnings saw a significant jump of 5.2% YoY (vs. 4.6% expected).”

“Focus this week on BoE MPC (Thu) and retail sales (Fri). BoE MPC likely a nonevent as a hold is likely. The last MPC meeting (Nov) saw BoE putting an emphasis on making sure inflation stays close to target. This reinforces the view for a gradual approach to removing restraint.” Read more…

GBP/USD Forecast: Pound Sterling ignores inflation data, focus shifts to Fed

After closing the second consecutive day in positive territory on Tuesday, GBP/USD edges lower early Wednesday and trades below 1.2700. Investors eagerly await the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcements.

The UK’s Office for National Statistics reported in the European morning that annual inflation in the UK, as measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to 2.6% in November from 2.3% in October, as anticipated. The core CPI rose 3.5% on a yearly basis, up from the 3.3% increase recorded in October but below analysts’ estimate of 3.6%. These figures failed to trigger a noticeable market reaction. Read more…