Ella 
In Asia on Thursday, GBP/USD ended lower for the third consecutive trading day, trading around 1.2490. The Bank of England (BOE) will announce its interest rate decision on Thursday, and is expected to announce that it will maintain interest rates at 5.25%.
Investors’ expectations of a potential rate cut from the Bank of England (BOE) have been pushed back to September amid concerns over strong wage growth in the UK. Wage growth in the UK is driving core inflation, the inflation measure favored by the central bank. Inflation fell to an annual rate of 3.2% in March from 3.4% in February. But it was still slightly higher than market expectations of 3.1%. The measure was the lowest inflation level since September 2021.
In the United States, the market expects the Federal Reserve to maintain higher interest rates for a longer period, and the US dollar (USD) is strengthening. Additionally, higher U.S. Treasury yields also provided support for the U.S. dollar (USD), weighing on GBP/USD.
From the Federal Reserve (FED) perspective, Boston Fed President Susan Collins on Wednesday emphasized the importance of the U.S. economy entering a period of moderation to achieving the central bank’s 2% inflation target. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on Tuesday that the current expectation is that interest rates will remain unchanged for quite some time, Reuters reported.
