GBP/USD Gains Ground Ahead Of UK Labor Figures

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  • GBP/USD climbed one and a third percent on Monday.
  • Markets are selling off the Greenback after President Donald Trump caved on day-one tariffs.
  • Pound Sterling traders await UK labor and employment figures early Tuesday.

GBP/USD rose 1.35% on Monday, gaining ground and climbing back over the 1.2300 handle as markets breathed 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.


GBP/USD price forecast
 

With the Pound Sterling catching a bid on Monday, GBP/USD rose over 1.3% and cleared the 1.2300 handle, though near-term bullish momentum rests purely on the shoulders of broad-market Greenback weakness. GBP/USD is still trading well below the 200-day and 50-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA) near 1.2730 and 1.2540, respectively.

Cable knocked into a fresh 15-month low at the 1.2100 handle last week, capping off a four-month backslide. The pair has closed either flat or in the red for all but two of the last 15 consecutive trading weeks.


GBP/USD daily chart
 


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