- GBP/USD reached a two-month height at 1.2674 as the US dollar struggled in unemployed claims data.
- The US unemployment claims rose to 219,000 the previous week, exceeding the expected 215,000.
- Traders are cautious as they continue to be concerned about the UK's economic outlook.
GBP/USD traded around 1.2670 at the time of writing during the Asian session after hitting a two-month high of 1.2674 on Friday. However, the pair won position as the US dollar (USD) struggled amid weak unemployment claims data and mixed signal from the Federal Reserve (Fed).
The first US unemployment claims for the week ending February 14th rose to 219,000, exceeding the expected 215,000. Continuous unemployment claims also rose slightly to 1.869 million, just under the forecast of 1.87 million.
Additionally, the GBP/USD pair saw profits amid improved market sentiment after US President Donald Trump announced potential developments in trade negotiations with China and eased market concerns over tariffs .
According to Reuters, Governor Adriana Kugler said Thursday that US inflation still “has some way” before reaching the 2% target.
Meanwhile, St. Louis Federal President Albert Musalem highlighted the potential risks of stagflation and rising inflation expectations. President Rafael Bostic, the federal president of Atlanta, has kept the door open for two interest rate cuts this year, depending on the economic situation.
Traders are cautious as they continue to be concerned about the UK's economic outlook. Bank of England (BOE) Governor Andrew Bailey warned this week that economic growth is expected to continue to slow down in the softened labor market.
Pound Sterling (GBP) was sought to gain traction after a UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday, which was hotter than expected in January. Gov. Bailey had already shown that the short-term inflationary spike driven by volatile energy prices would not last.
British pound prices today
The table below shows the rate of change in the British pound (GBP) against the major currencies listed today. The British pound was the strongest against the Japanese yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | aud | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.03% | 0.00% | 0.59% | 0.01% | -0.02% | -0.04% | 0.10% | |
| EUR | -0.03% | -0.03% | 0.55% | -0.03% | -0.05% | -0.07% | 0.06% | |
| GBP | -0.01% | 0.03% | 0.59% | 0.00% | -0.03% | -0.05% | 0.09% | |
| JPY | -0.59% | -0.55% | -0.59% | -0.53% | -0.58% | -0.61% | -0.47% | |
| CAD | -0.01% | 0.03% | -0.00% | 0.53% | -0.04% | -0.05% | 0.08% | |
| aud | 0.02% | 0.05% | 0.03% | 0.58% | 0.04% | -0.02% | 0.11% | |
| NZD | 0.04% | 0.07% | 0.05% | 0.61% | 0.05% | 0.02% | 0.14% | |
| CHF | -0.10% | -0.06% | -0.09% | 0.47% | -0.08% | -0.11% | -0.14% |
The heatmap shows the rate of change of each other's major currencies. The base currency is selected from the left column, and the estimated currency is selected from the top row. For example, if you choose the British pound from the left column and move it along the horizon to US dollars, the rate of change shown in the box represents GBP (base)/USD (QUOTE).
