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- GBP/USD posts modest losses near 1.3340 in Monday’s early European session.
- Intensified geopolitical tensions in the Middle East weigh on the British Pound.
- BoE’s Bailey signaled the central bank is in “no rush” to raise interest rates.
The GBP/USD pair trades with mild losses around 1.3340 during the European trading hours on Monday. Ongoing tensions in the Middle East and rising bets of a US interest rate hike provide some support to the US Dollar (USD) against the British Pound (GBP).
The BBC reported on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it struck military targets in western and central Iran, hours after Iran fired a salvo of missiles at northern Israel. Iranian officials said that any attack from Israel against Lebanon or Iran would be met with a “crushing and comprehensive response.”
Additionally, Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said that the Strait of Hormuz will be open but under new conditions to be set by Iran and Oman, including a transit fee, per Reuters. Escalating tensions in the Middle East could boost a safe-haven currency such as the Greenback and act as a headwind for the major pair in the near term.
The US economy posted a third straight month of strong job gains in May, with the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rising by 172K in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. This figure followed the 179K increase (revised from 115K) and was better than the forecast of 85K. This robust jobs data has reignited expectations that the Fed may raise the interest rate later this year, lifting the USD.
On the UK’s front, Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey delivered dovish remarks, saying that the UK central bank is in no rush to raise interest rates while the outcome of the Iran war remains uncertain and the UK’s growth rate stays weak.
Financial markets had expected the BoE to cut interest rates twice this year to 3.25%. Since the US-Iran war began, the situation has reversed, and now a rise of 25 basis points (bpd) before December is forecast, according to CNBC.
