Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash 

The British Pound (GBP) reversed its course, dropping over 0.51% on Thursday following the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to hold rates unchanged, after the Federal Reserve (Fed) began its 2025 easing cycle. The GBP/USD pair trades at 1.3551 after hitting a daily high of 1.3660.

Pound slides after BoE keeps Bank Rate at 4% and scales back QT, diverging from Fed’s easing cycle

The economic schedule on both sides of the Atlantic has been busy. US Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending September 13 came at 231K, below forecasts of 240K and the previous week upward revised 264K. Continuing Claims dipped from 1.939 million to 1.920 million

Although the data was positive, hiring has slowed as most economists blamed tariffs. The Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned that the lack of immigration is another reason weighing on the labor market.

Earlier, the Bank of England maintained the Bank Rate at 4% as expected, on a 7-2 vote split, and reduced the Quantitative Tightening (QT) from £100 billion to £70 billion. Worth noting, in the previous meeting, the BoE reduced rates even though inflation in the UK is almost twice the bank’s 2% target.

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said that there will be more rate cuts, though added that the timing and scale are uncertain.

Ahead, the UK economic docket will feature Retail Sales data. In the US, the calendar is empty, though traders should be aware that the Fed blackout period ended and that some officials could cross the newswires.

GBP/USD Price Forecast: Mild-bearish as evening star emerges

GBP/USD shifted from being upward biased to consolidate within the 1.3500 – 1.3650 area as an 'evening star' emerges. If bears would like to push the exchange rate lower, they must clear the 20-day SMA at 1.3521, followed by the September 11 swing low of 1.3491. Once cleared, the next area of interest would be the confluence of the 100 and 50-day SMAs at around 1.3475/62.

On the flip side, a GBP/USD daily close above 1.3600 could cement the case for another attempt to challenge the yearly peak at 1.3788.

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