Pound Sterling rises as BoE Greene stays hawkish despite UK inflation decelerates

• The Pound Sterling rises against the majority of its peers as BoE’s Greene attributed soft volatile components to the decline in UK inflation in September.
• Investors await BoE Bailey’s speech and flash S&P Global/CIPS PMI data for October.
• The IMF has upwardly revised US growth projections for the current and the next year.

The Pound Sterling (GBP) stays below the psychological resistance of 1.3000 against the US Dollar (USD) in Wednesday’s London session. The GBP/USD pair faces pressure as the USD extends its upside on multiple tailwinds. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges Greenback’s value against six major currencies, jumps to near 104.35 and approaches the August high of 104.45.

The appeal of the US Dollar as safe-haven has been strengthened by uncertainty over the United States (US) presidential elections on November 5. According to the Reuters/Ipsos polls, Vice President Kamala Harris leads a slight margin against former President Donald Trump.

Market participants worry that the scenario of Trump winning the election will result in higher tariffs, which will have a significant impact on exports from the Eurozone, Canada, Mexico, China, and Japan, which are closed trading partners to the US.

Also, firm expectations for a Federal Reserve’s (Fed) gradual policy-easing cycle in the remaining year and 2025 have also boosted the appeal of the US Dollar. Meanwhile, the IMF has raised US growth forecasts for this year to 2.8% compared to 2.6% projected in July. The agency has also raised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) projections for 2025 to 2.2% from prior expectations of 1.9%.

For the current status of economic health, investors will focus on the Fed’s Beige Book, which summarizes economic conditions across 12 Fed districts and will be published at 18:00 GMT. 

Daily digest market movers: Pound Sterling awaits BoE Bailey's speech

• The Pound Sterling outperforms the majority of its peers, except the US Dollar, on Wednesday. The British currency gains on Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee member Megan Greene’s slightly hawkish interest rate guidance in a discussion with the Atlantic Council think-tank on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) meeting on Tuesday.
• “I think it's most likely that monetary policy must continue to bear down to bring inflation to target,” Greene said. When asked whether the recent drop in United Kingdom (UK) inflation will influence her vote in the monetary policy in November, Greene said that a sharp fall in inflation came from volatile components. Therefore, she would not put too much weight on them.
• Investors should note that Greene was one of the four Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members who voted to keep interest rates unchanged in August, in which the BoE reduced them by 25 basis points (bps) to 5%.
• The next trigger for the Pound Sterling will be BoE Governor Andrew Bailey’s speech, which is scheduled at 18:45 GMT. Investors will pay close attention to get fresh cues about the likely monetary policy action in November and December. Meanwhile, traders have priced in another interest rate cut in November.
• On the economic front, market participants will focus on the flash S&P Global/CIPS Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data for October, which will be published on Thursday. The PMI report is expected to show that the overall business activity expanded at a modest pace.

Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling steadies below 1.3000

The Pound Sterling stays below the psychological level of 1.3000 in European trading hours. The outlook of the GBP/USD pair is bearish as it remains below the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which trades around 1.3080. 

The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) slides near 40.00, signaling that a bearish momentum is underway.

Looking down, the upward-sloping trendline drawn from the April 22 low of 1.2300 will be a major support zone for Pound Sterling bulls near 1.2920. A downside move below the same would drag the pair toward the 200-day EMA, which trades around 1.2845. On the upside, the Cable will face resistance near the 20-day EMA around 1.3110.