BOE Outlook

GBPUSD is holding near recent highs today ahead of the BOE meeting tomorrow. The BOE is widely expected to hike rates a further .25% on the back of recent CPI data which showed inflation remained above 10% last month. With a rate hike well-expected, the focus will be on the new forward guidance issued by the bank.

Market Expectations

The market is turning increasingly hawkish on the BOE, expecting the bank to press ahead with further tightening beyond this month. However, the bank itself has been steadily warning past tightening is largely yet to feed through into the economy. As such, the bank noted that further tightening will depend on the path of inflation. With inflation still above 10% the bank is likely to retain a more hawkish outlook for now, keeping GBP supported near-term.

Near-Term GBP Focus

Given the BOE’s concerns over the lag from prior tightening, the message Is likely to be fairly similar to last time around with the bank linking any further actions to the trajectory of inflation. As such, GBP is likely to stay well bid after the meeting as traders keep their current expectations intact. The BRC retail monitor this week came in above forecasts suggesting that price pressures likely persisted this month. As such, the greater volatility is likely to be found around the next UK CPI release.

Technical Views

GBPUSD

The rally in GBPUSD has seen the pair breaking out above the bull channel, trading up to a test of the 1.2659 level where the market is currently stalled. While above the 1.2437 level the focus is on a continued move higher and a breakout towards the 1.2992 level next.