- The Pound Sterling surrenders some of its early gains after the monetary policy announcement by the BoE.
- The BoE held interest rates steady at 4%, with a 7-2 vote split.
- Investors await key US Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ending September 12.
The Pound Sterling (GBP) faces selling pressure against its major peers on Thursday after the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy announcement. The BoE has held interest rates steady at 4%, as expected, with a 7-2 majority.
The BoE was widely anticipated to keep borrowing rates steady as inflationary pressures in the United Kingdom (UK) remain elevated, with the latest CPI reading showing that inflation held at 3.8%, the highest level since early 2024.
BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor supported further monetary policy expansion, while the rest voted to maintain the status quo.
Taylor was expected to vote in favor of reducing interest rates as he stated, in his speech before the House of Commons’ Treasury Committee earlier this month, that the monetary policy needs to loosen further to address weak economic growth, citing that high inflation is unlikely to be persistent. He also said that monetary policy restrictiveness in the current scenario could lead to “inflation actually undershooting the target and economic activity weak or in recession”.
Meanwhile, BoE Governor Andrew Bailey has retained a “gradual and careful” approach to the further withdrawal of monetary policy restraint.
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 New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.04% | 0.19% | 0.29% | 0.06% | 0.11% | 1.04% | 0.06% | |
| EUR | 0.04% | 0.10% | 0.33% | 0.12% | 0.12% | 1.18% | 0.13% | |
| GBP | -0.19% | -0.10% | 0.22% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 1.01% | 0.03% | |
| JPY | -0.29% | -0.33% | -0.22% | -0.23% | -0.25% | 0.72% | -0.20% | |
| CAD | -0.06% | -0.12% | -0.02% | 0.23% | 0.03% | 1.12% | 0.01% | |
| AUD | -0.11% | -0.12% | -0.01% | 0.25% | -0.03% | 1.08% | -0.03% | |
| NZD | -1.04% | -1.18% | -1.01% | -0.72% | -1.12% | -1.08% | -0.95% | |
| CHF | -0.06% | -0.13% | -0.03% | 0.20% | -0.01% | 0.03% | 0.95% |
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).
Daily digest market movers: Fed signals two more interest rate cuts this year
- The Pound Sterling gives up early gains and flattens around 1.3610 against the US Dollar (USD) after the BoE’s monetary policy decision. The US Dollar also struggles to hold its Wednesday’s recovery move, which came after the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy announcement.
- The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, faces pressure above 97.00 at the time of writing.
- On Wednesday, the Fed restarted the monetary-easing campaign with a 25-bps reduction in interest rates that pushed them lower to 4.00%-4.25%. This was the first interest rate cut by the Fed this year. The United States (US) central bank adjusted policy rates amid slowing job growth, even as inflation remains well above the 2% target.
- “Demand for labour is down a little more sharply than supply of labour, and I can no longer say the labor market is solid,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in the press conference.
- Meanwhile, the Fed has also signaled two more interest rate cuts in the remainder of the year and one each in 2026 and 2027.
- In Thursday’s US session, investors will focus on the Initial Jobless Claims data for the week ending September 12, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The number of individuals filing for jobless benefits for the first time are expected to come in lower at 240K than the prior reading of 263K. Investors will closely monitor jobless claims data as Fed dovish speculation intensified last week after claims rose to the highest reading in four years.
Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling stays above 20-day EMA
The Pound Sterling falls to near 1.3585 against the US Dollar on Thursday. The GBP/USD pair corrects and tests the breakout of the Ascending Triangle chart pattern delivered on Monday. The upward-sloping 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around 1.3535 suggests that the near-term trend is bullish.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) strives to hold above 60.00. A fresh upside momentum would emerge if the RSI manages to do so.
Looking down, the August 1 low of 1.3140 will act as a key support zone. On the upside, the July 1 high near 1.3800 will act as a key barrier.
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.
Read more.
Last release:
Thu Sep 18, 2025 11:00
Frequency:
Irregular
Actual:
4%
Consensus:
4%
Previous:
4%
Source:
Bank of England
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