The post Pound Sterling consolidates against US Dollar with US inflation in focus appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The Pound Sterling trades sideways near 1.2750 against the USD as investors await the US inflation data for November. The impact of US inflation should be limited on Fed interest rate prospects unless there is a dramatic deviation from expectations. Investors expect the BoE to leave interest rates steady at 4.75% on December 19. The Pound Sterling (GBP) consolidates in a tight range near 1.2750 against the US Dollar (USD) in Tuesday’s European session. The GBP/USD pair trades sideways as investors focus on the United States (US) Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November, which will be published on Wednesday. Economists expect the annual headline inflation to have accelerated to 2.7% from the October reading of 2.6%. In the same period, the core CPI – which excludes volatile food and energy prices – is expected to have risen steadily by 3.3%. The month-on-month headline and core CPI are estimated to have grown steadily by 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. Unless there is a dramatic deviation from what’s expected, the impact of the inflation data shouldn’t significantly change market expectations for the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) likely interest rate action in the policy meeting on December 18. Recent commentaries from a string of Fed officials have indicated that they are confident about inflation remaining on a sustainable path towards the bank’s target of 2%. However, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman, a well-known hawk, said on Friday that the central bank should “proceed cautiously and gradually in lowering the policy rate, as inflation remains elevated.” There is an almost 90% chance that the Fed will reduce interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) to 4.25%-4.50%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. In Tuesday’s session, investors will focus on the Q3 Unit Labor Costs data, which will be published at 13:30 GMT. The economic data will…

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Filed under: News - @ December 10, 2024 8:20 am