GBP\/USD fell by 0.17% on Thursday after US jobs data outweighed UK GDP figures released during the European session. The pair traded at 1.3534 after earlier rising to just below 1.36, while expectations of a US\u2013Iran peace deal supported risk appetite.<\/p>\n
In European trading on Thursday, GBP\/USD was about 0.1% lower near 1.3545 and struggled to break above 1.3600, which aligns with the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement level. The US Dollar firmed after recovering early losses, even as market sentiment stayed risk-on.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, GBP\/USD stalled and held around 1.3570 as optimism over renewed US\u2013Iran talks cooled. US equities extended gains, and the US Dollar appeared to stabilise after touching a six-week low.<\/p>\n
We remember how the pound struggled to break the 1.3600 barrier back in 2025, where a strong US jobs report was enough to halt any rally despite a positive mood. That dynamic of a resilient dollar overpowering other factors has become a more dominant theme since then. The market is now trading significantly lower, showing that the resistance we saw last year was a critical turning point.<\/p>\n
The present situation in April 2026 echoes that period, as the most recent US Non-Farm Payrolls report for March added a solid 255,000 jobs, comfortably beating expectations. This strong labor market data has cemented expectations that the Federal Reserve will not be cutting interest rates any time soon. As a result, the dollar continues to attract capital, putting a ceiling on any potential GBP\/USD gains.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the UK’s own economic picture is less clear, with March 2026 inflation data showing consumer prices remain sticky at 3.1%, keeping pressure on the Bank of England. However, this is offset by sluggish Q1 growth forecasts, creating a conflict for policymakers and uncertainty for the pound. This divergence in economic momentum between a robust US and a hesitating UK continues to favor the dollar.<\/p>\n
For the coming weeks, derivative traders should consider strategies that position for limited upside in GBP\/USD. Buying put options with a strike price below the current 1.2800 support could offer protection against another leg down driven by US data. Selling out-of-the-money call options above the 1.2950 resistance level may also be a viable strategy to collect premium from the expected range-bound movement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GBP\/USD slipped 0.17% as strong US jobs data outweighed UK GDP; pair struggled below 1.3600.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45166\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}