British Pound trades positive at the start of the BoE’s policy week

The British Pound is up against its major peers ahead of BoE’s policy decision on Thursday.
The BoE is highly anticipated to hike interest rates by 25 bps to 4%.
Markets expect Democrats a 70-72% chance of taking both the House and the Senate.

The British Pound (GBP) is up against a majority of its currency peers, trading 0.3% higher to near 1.3430 vs. the US Dollar (USD) at the start of the week. The British currency trades higher, while investors keenly await the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy announcement on Thursday.

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Pound Sterling Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.49%	-0.27%	0.05%	-0.08%	0.10%	-0.02%	-0.58%
EUR	0.49%		0.22%	0.51%	0.40%	0.59%	0.47%	-0.06%
GBP	0.27%	-0.22%		0.32%	0.18%	0.37%	0.25%	-0.27%
JPY	-0.05%	-0.51%	-0.32%		-0.11%	0.06%	-0.06%	-0.61%
CAD	0.08%	-0.40%	-0.18%	0.11%		0.19%	0.06%	-0.46%
AUD	-0.10%	-0.59%	-0.37%	-0.06%	-0.19%		-0.12%	-0.65%
NZD	0.02%	-0.47%	-0.25%	0.06%	-0.06%	0.12%		-0.52%
CHF	0.58%	0.06%	0.27%	0.61%	0.46%	0.65%	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).

Sterling holds firm as markets see BoE hike to 4.00% as a done deal

Analysts at ING note that Sterling is “trading reasonably well,” supported by the market’s conviction that elevated energy costs leave the BoE with “no alternative but to hike rates on Thursday.” In their view, “a 25bp rate hike to 4.00% looks like a done deal,” reinforcing the constructive tone around the Pound ahead of the policy decision.

With financial markets remaining confident that the BoE will hike interest rates, investors might pay close attention to the vote split and the monetary policy outlook.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar faces selling pressure ahead of United States (US) midterm elections on Tuesday. As of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades 0.3% down to near 101.65.

Dollar outlook clouded as US midterm odds point to Democrat sweep

ING’s Chris Turner flags the US midterm elections as the key event risk for FX this week, noting that betting markets now give the Democrats a “70-72% chance of taking both the House and the Senate.” He argues that “one could make the case that the Dollar should come lower on such an outcome,” as a Democrat clean sweep would likely “lead to gridlock on the debt ceiling, a prolonged government shutdown next year and could encourage President Trump to pursue an even more activist foreign policy agenda.” Against that backdrop, Turner suggests investors will be weighing these political risks against the still-supportive mix of strong US growth, above-target inflation and ongoing Fed tightening for the Dollar and DXY around the 102.00 area.

GBP/USD Technical Analysis

In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades around 1.3430, retaining a bullish near-term bias as spot holds above the 9-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 1.3366 and the 50.0% Fibonacci retracement at 1.3408 of the 1.3138–1.3677 leg. The Relative Strength Index (14) stands near 60, indicating firm positive momentum that reinforces the upside tone while stopping short of overbought conditions.

On the topside, immediate resistance is located at the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement at 1.3471, ahead of the 78.6% level at 1.3562, with the cycle high at 1.3677 acting as a stronger barrier if bulls extend the advance. On the downside, initial support is seen at the 50.0% retracement at 1.3408, followed by the 9-day EMA at 1.3366 and the 38.2% level at 1.3344, while deeper pullbacks would expose the 23.6% retracement at 1.3265 and the structural anchor near 1.3138.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)

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.