GBP/USD BULLS POKE 1.2250 WITH EYES ON BOE’S BAILEY, FED’S PREFERRED INFLATION GAUGE l

GBP/USD picks up bids to refresh intraday high after two-week uptrend.

Fears of US recession underpin latest fall of the greenback amid downbeat yields.

Hopes of more soothing economic measures for the UK energy companies from PM Sunak help Cable buyers.

Speech from BoE Governor Bailey, US Core PCE Price Index eyed.

GBP/USD begins the week on a positive footing, renewing its intraday high near 1.2250 while extending the previous two-week uptrend, as fears of US recession join positive headlines from the UK. However, the cautious mood ahead of this week’s key data/events seems to test the Cable pair buyers.

That said, the quote managed to cheer the Bank of England’s (BoE) 0.50% rate hike with mostly positive economics, as well as the downbeat US Treasury bond yields. However, Friday’s risk-negative headlines tested the GBP/USD buyers before the latest run-up, backed by the weekend news.

During the weekend, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on the CBS show Face the Nation that recent stress in the banking sector and the possibility of a follow-on credit crunch brings the US closer to recession. His comments joined the Financial Times (FT) headlines suggesting more relief to the UK’s energy companies to favor the GBP/USD prices. “Britain’s oil and gas companies are next week expected to be offered the prospect of windfall tax relief, as prime minister Rishi Sunak looks to boost investment and improve the country’s energy security,” said FT.

Previously, UK Retail Sales offered an upside surprise for February by marking 1.2% MoM growth versus 0.2% expected and 0.9% previous. Further, the Core Retail Sales, which excludes the auto motor fuel sales, rose 1.5% MoM compared to 0.1% market forecasts and 0.9% previous. It’s worth noting, however, that the UK’s preliminary S&P Global/CIPS Services PMI for March came in at 52.8 compared to February’s 53.5 final print and 53.0 expected. On the same line, the first readings of Manufacturing PMI dropped to 48.0 for the said month compared to 49.8 expected and February’s 49.3 final readout. With this, the Composite PMI eased to 52.2 versus 52.8 market forecasts and 53.1 previous readings.