GBP/USD APPROACHES 1.2350 KEY HURDLE AMID BREXIT OPTIMISM, FED’S DOVISH HIKE, FOCUS ON BOE

On the other hand, the US Federal Reserve (Fed) confirmed the market’s expectations of announcing a 0.25% rate hike but failed to convince the policy hawks and drowned the US Dollar. The reason could be linked to the statements saying, “Some additional policy firming may be appropriate,” instead of previous remarks like “Ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate.” It should be noted that Fed Chair Jerome Powell and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s comments triggered the market’s pessimism as Fed’s Powell said that officials do not see rate cuts for this year, which in turn allowed breathing space to the greenback bears but failed to last long. Further, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ruled out considering “blanket insurance” for bank deposits. Recently, Bloomberg also came out with the news suggesting that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is said to delay the bid deadline for a Silicon Valley private bank.

Against this backdrop, S&P 500 Futures print mild gains around 3,980, up 0.25% intraday following the biggest daily slump in two weeks while the US 10-year and two-year Treasury bond yields stay pressured around 3.47% and 3.96% at the latest, licking their wounds after falling the most in a week.

Moving on, GBP/USD traders may keep their eyes on the political chaos in the UK’s House of Commons and second tier US data for additional directions while focusing more on the BoE announcements. That said, the “Old Lady”, as the BoE is casually termed, is expected to rollout a 0.25% rate hike and may not entertain GBP/USD traders much, apart from initial whipsaw, unless the inflation outlook and BoE Minutes suggest further rate lifts.