GBP/USD marches towards 1.2350 ahead of UK Employment data
- GBP/USD is advancing towards 1.2350 amid an improvement in the risk appetite of investors.
- The UK’s jobless claims are expected to see a potential cut as per the market consensus.
- The street is expecting outperformance from the US Retail Sales data.
The GBP/USD pair is trading minutely positive in the Asian session as investors are awaiting the release of the UK labor force data. The UK’s Office for National Statistics will report the Claimant Count Change in the early European session. The cable is performing a little better on Tuesday as the risk-on impulse is gaining traction. Risk-perceived assets are attracting more funds, which has underpinned sterling against the greenback.
The Claimant Count change dictates the additions in the unemployed labor force who have applied for jobless benefits. The UK’s National Statistics agency is expected to report a drop in jobless claims by -38.8k in April, followed by a significant drop of 46.6k in March. This signifies a tight labor market in the UK. While the Unemployment Rate is expected to remain stable at 3.8%.
Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) is trading lackluster amid fewer economic data this week. The DXY shifted into a correction mode after printing a 19-year high of 105.00 last week. To tame the galloping inflation, an interest rate hike by 50 basis points (bps) in June’s monetary policy is highly likely. But before that, investors are focusing on the US Retail Sales, which are due on Tuesday. A preliminary estimate for the monthly US Retail Sales is 0.7% against the prior print of 0.5%.