GBP/USD holds near 1.3570 as Iran talk optimism cools

• Hopes for extended US-Iran talks kept overall market sentiment supported.
• Fed officials signaled rates could stay unchanged for some time.
• BoE tightening bets continue to offer support to Sterling.

The GBP/USD halts its advance on Wednesday and remains steady around 1.3570 as optimism about a resumption of US-Iran talks has tempered. At the same time, US equities extended their gains, and the Greenback seems to have bottomed after hitting a six-week low.

Sterling steadies as Fed hold view offsets softer Dollar tone

Sentiment remains positive, a headwind for the safe-haven appeal of the US Dollar. News that the US-Iran ceasefire could extend for another couple of weeks was cheered by Wall Street, though US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran is near the end, adding that “amazing two days” lie ahead, hinting that both parties could be close to an agreement.

The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon is deploying additional troops to the Middle East. At the same time, the Pakistani military confirmed that Field Marshal Asim Miner arrived in Tehran to narrow the gaps between the two countries.

The US economic docket featured Import and Export prices, with both figures being ignored by market participants. Federal Reserve officials continued to grab the headlines as Cleveland Fed Beth Hammack commented that rates will likely remain on hold “for a good while.” She sees no imminent need for the Fed to change its interest rate setting.

Even though the Fed is expected to hold rates, across the pond, the Bank of England is expected to tighten policy by 38 basis points towards the end of the year. This favors further upside for GBP/USD, as the rate differential would be higher in the UK.

BoE hawkish bets had grown amid the UK’s reliance on natural gas imports, with prices soaring to near 40%. Nevertheless, the recent news could prompt traders to trim some of those bets as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumes.

Earlier, BoE’s Megan Greene, who was hawkish ahead of the Iran war, remains worried about price pressures. She commented that it could take months to see the impact of the energy shock on the British economy, given the surge in energy prices.

Ahead, the UK docket will feature the release of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, which is expected to improve from no growth to 0.1% MoM in February. In the US, traders eye the release of Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending April 11, and speeches by Fed officials.

GBP/USD Price Forecast: Technical outlook

In the daily chart, GBP/USD trades at 1.3573, extending a constructive tone after reclaiming the main simple moving averages (SMAs). The latest reading of the 50-, 100- and 200-day SMAs from the moving average triple cluster around 1.3428, leaving spot comfortably above this band and hinting at a bullish near‑term bias while the uptrend structure remains intact.

On the downside, initial support is located at the prior confluence zone around 1.3490–1.3492, where the rising support trend line intersects with recent reaction lows. A deeper pullback would expose the dense SMA cluster near 1.3428, reinforced by the previously capping descending trend line that last rejected prices near 1.3436 and now acts as additional underlying demand. As long as GBP/USD holds above these supports, dips are likely to remain shallow, even if upside reference levels above the market are not yet well defined by the current indicator set.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)