The British pound (GBP) strengthened against the US dollar (USD) on Monday, with GBP/USD climbing towards the 1.3500 mark as improving optimism around a potential US-Iran deal boosted market sentiment and weighed on the greenback. At the time of writing, the pair is up 0.54% on the day, near its highest level since May 14.
The US dollar index (DXY), which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, consolidated losses near 99.00 points after touching a more than a month high around 99.50 last week.
Markets remain cautiously optimistic that the United States (US) and Iran are moving toward an agreement that could ultimately end the conflict in the Middle East and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The potential agreement reportedly includes a 60-day ceasefire extension, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, while negotiations will continue on Iran’s nuclear program.
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran were progressing “in an orderly and constructive manner”, although he said there was “no rush” to finalize a deal as time was on the US’s side.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghai said some progress has been made in Pakistan-mediated talks with the US on “a large portion of the topics of discussion”, but stressed that this does not mean “signing of any agreement is imminent.”
However, the market remains cautious over the slow pace of talks, as major disagreements reportedly remain over Iran’s nuclear programme, sanctions relief, the release of frozen Iranian assets and the US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Against this backdrop, downward pressure on the US dollar appears to be limited, while traders remain cautious about taking aggressive bullish bets on the British Pound amid growing political uncertainty in the United Kingdom (UK) as Prime Minister Keir Starmer comes under increasing pressure to resign following weak local election results.
At the same time, investors’ attention remains firmly focused on the monetary policy outlook. Although expectations of a potential US-Iran deal have driven crude oil prices lower, prices remain high and inflation concerns persist.
Traders will be closely watching upcoming speeches from Federal Reserve (Fed) and Bank of England (BoE) officials later this week for new clues on the interest rate outlook.
On the data front, the United Kingdom’s economic calendar remains relatively quiet this week, while in the United States, traders await personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index data on Thursday.
price of pound sterling today
The table below shows the percentage changes of the British Pound (GBP) against the major currencies listed today. The British pound was the strongest against the US dollar.
| USD | EUR | gbp | JPY | scurvy | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.35% | -0.54% | -0.21% | -0.14% | -0.67% | -0.42% | -0.27% | |
| EUR | 0.35% | -0.21% | 0.15% | 0.20% | -0.33% | -0.08% | 0.07% | |
| gbp | 0.54% | 0.21% | 0.36% | 0.40% | -0.13% | 0.14% | 0.26% | |
| JPY | 0.21% | -0.15% | -0.36% | 0.06% | -0.50% | -0.26% | -0.12% | |
| scurvy | 0.14% | -0.20% | -0.40% | -0.06% | -0.54% | -0.29% | -0.17% | |
| AUD | 0.67% | 0.33% | 0.13% | 0.50% | 0.54% | 0.25% | 0.39% | |
| NZD | 0.42% | 0.08% | -0.14% | 0.26% | 0.29% | -0.25% | 0.12% | |
| CHF | 0.27% | -0.07% | -0.26% | 0.12% | 0.17% | -0.39% | -0.12% |
The heat map shows the percentage change of major currencies against each other. The base currency is selected from the left column, while the quote currency is selected from the top row. For example, if you select British Pounds from the left column and move along the horizontal line to US Dollars, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (basis)/USD (quote).
