GBP/USD gains ground ahead of UK labor figures
GBP/USD rose 1.35% on Monday, gaining ground and climbing back over the 1.2300 handle as markets breathe a collective sigh of relief after freshly-minted US President Donald Trump made a last-minute pivot away from a broad, sweeping policy of day-one trade tariffs. Back for a second term, Donald Trump is still actively pursuing a policy of reviewing trade circumstances with most of the US’ strongest allies in trade terms, however the returning president has already begun waffling on his campaign promises to use executive orders to apply tariffs of at least 20% across the board, with a 65% import tariff threatened against China specifically.
UK Claimant Count change figures are expected to climb 10.3K in December, a sharp uptick from the previous month’s 0.3K print. However the UK’s ILO Unemployment Rate for the three months ended in November is still expected to hold steady at 4.3%.
Data releases on the US side remain tepid until Friday’s S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Median market forecasts are expecting a mixed bag result, with the Services component expected to decline but survey results from the Manufacturing component expected to tick upwards slightly.(Cay)
Source: Fxstreet