Ella 
During the Asian session on Friday, GBP/USD is trying to recover the previous day’s losses, hovering around 1.2680. GBP/USD came under pressure ahead of U.S. employment and manufacturing data.
GBP/USD was weakened by dovish US data on Thursday. At press time, the U.S. dollar index traded higher around 103.60. As mentioned earlier, the US core PCE price index rose to 4.2% in July from 4.1% previously, in line with expectations. In addition, the number of initial jobless claims in the United States for the week ended August 25 was 228,000, compared with market consensus expectations of 235,000 and the previous value of 232,000, indicating that the labor market is still resilient.
However, market participants took a cautious stance, seeking fresh signals from the Bank of England’s (BOE) monetary policy tightening at its September meeting and the UK’s bleak economic picture. Although the Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill gave a hawkish speech on Thursday, and the Bank of England’s hawkish sentiment on raising interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) increased, 3 still faces downward pressure. Peale said policy should be held with considerable restraint for an extended period of time.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said in early Asian trading on Friday that increasing competition in the market is leading to more savings accounts offering higher interest rates. The Financial Conduct Authority is working to ensure UK savings account holders can quickly reap the benefits of rising interest rates, just as they quickly face increased costs when borrowing. This initiative aims to create a balanced and fair financial environment for consumers.
Investors are likely to focus on upcoming U.S. data due on Friday for more clues on the state of the U.S. economy. These data include U.S. average hourly earnings, non-farm payrolls and the ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index.
