• GBP/USD pumped the brakes on recent declines, but upside remains elusive.
• UK economic data has given Pound bulls little to be bullish about.
• US data, on the other hand, continues to outpace expectations.

GBP/USD managed to plug the leaks and stop its most recent backslide, but potential for a bullish rebound remains tepid at best. The Pound Sterling clawed back a scant sixth of a percent against the Greenback on Thursday, well short of the midweek plunge that saw Cable slump another six-tenths of a percent.

GBP/USD remains off of recent highs by over 3% after a one-sided backslide from its last peak near 1.3450. The pair is once again battling it out near the 1.3000 handle as GBP bidders struggle to find a reason to buy Cable.

UK data has broadly missed the mark this week, with UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation, and UK labor figures all undershot market forecasts. With UK inflation flopping steeper than many expected, and jobs data failing to hit investor expectations, the Bank of England (BoE) will face increasing pressure from markets to step up the pace of rate cuts.

All that’s left of note on the GBP side of this week’s economic data docket will be Friday’s UK Retail Sales figures. Even here, markets aren’t expecting much in the way of magic, with median market forecasts expecting a -0.3% contraction in September compared to August’s comparatively strong showing of 1.0%.