GBP/USD maintains position above 1.3400 ahead of Fed Powell’s speech
GBP/USD moves little after four days of losses, trading around 1.3410 during the Asian hours on Friday. The pair faced challenges as the US Dollar (USD) gained ground following the key economic data from the United States (US) released on Thursday. Traders await Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium in Wyoming to gain clues on the September policy outlook.
The preliminary S&P Global US Composite PMI picked up pace in August, with the index at 55.4 versus 55.1 prior. Meanwhile, the US Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.3 from 49.8 prior, surpassing the market consensus of 49.5. Services PMI eased to 55.4 from 55.7 previous reading, but was stronger than the 54.2 expected. Moreover, US Initial Jobless Claims rose to 235K for the previous week, an eight-week high and above the consensus estimate of 225K, suggesting some softening in labor market conditions.
Strong PMI data paired with rising jobless claims highlights the Federal Reserve’s challenge of weighing persistent inflation pressures against evidence of a softening labor market. According to the CME FedWatch tool, Fed funds futures traders are now pricing in a 74% chance of a rate reduction in September, down from 82% on Wednesday.
Source: FXstreet
