GBP/USD continues to churn as Cable traders await a reason to move

• GBP/USD cycled familiar territory on Thursday, chugging along near 1.3600.
• Market pressures have cooled through the midweek after tariffs weighed on sentiment.
• The data calendar remains a tepid affair through the remainder of the trading week.

GBP/USD churned chart paper in familiar territory through Thursday, cycling through the same block of intraday levels near the 1.3600 handle. Broad-market sentiment recovered from fresh tariff woes early in the week, but investors continue to bank on a broad walkback (or further suspensions) of tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump.

Friday brings a thin cluster of mid-tier data to close out the trading week. UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for the month of May are due early in the London market session at 06:00 GMT. However, the backdated figures are largely expected to show a thin recovery in already-meager numbers, and market impact will likely remain limited.

With reciprocal tariffs delayed until August 1, investors are banking on the Trump administration finding a reason to further delay or suspend both the reciprocal tariffs package initially announced in April, as well as a fresh batch of tariffs aimed at specific countries and sectors announced throughout the first half of the week. Market participants remain confident that the brunt of Trump's tariff threats won't come to pass, and trader confidence is inching higher as inflationary pressures from the tariffs that Trump has managed to enact remains tepid at best.

GBP/USD price forecast

GBP/USD continues to churn at the lower end of a near-term pullback after backsliding from multi-year highs near 1.3800 at the beginning of July. Price action has since tilted downward; however, Cable continues to trade on the north side of the 50-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) near 1.3470. Technical oscillators have eased back from overbought conditions, but near-term downside momentum could still have room to run.

GBP/USD daily chart