Sterling rose in European trade on Friday against a basket of major rivals, extending gains for the fifth straight session against the dollar and about to mark three-year highs.

The pound is heading for a huge weekly profit as the dollar faces heavy selling pressures, and after data that showed increasing inflationary pressures on the Bank of England policymakers, hurting the odds of a June rate cut.

The Price

The GBP/USD rose 0.25% today to $1.3449, with a session-low at $1.3415.

The pound rose less than 0.1% on Wednesday against the dollar, the fourth profit in a row, scaling a three-year peak at $1.3469.

Weekly Trades

The pound is up 1.3% so far against the dollar this week, on track for the biggest weekly profit since mid April.

US Dollar

The US dollar index fell 0.25% on Friday on track for a two-week trough at 99.34 against a basket of major rivals.

The greenback is pressured by increasing concerns about the US financial stability, nudging investors towards safer havens.

It comes after Moodys decision to cut the US credit rating last week, the investor focus turned to the massive US debt reaching $36 trillion, and to Trumps new tax reform bill, which would add trillions to this burden.

UK Rates

UK consumer prices rose 3.5% y/y in April, up from 2.6% in March, and passed estimates of a 3.3% rise.

The data renewed inflationary pressures on the Bank of England policymakers, and tanked the odds of a June 0.25% rate cut from 25% to 15%.

Now traders await important UK data on various sectors to gather even more clues on the second quarter performance.

The UK GDP grew by a brisk 0.7% in the first quarter, beating estimates of a 0.6% rise and compared to the 0.1% growth rate in the last quarter of 2024.

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