Forex

GBP/USD: British Pound / US Dollar

Sterling priced in US dollars, often called “cable”. It responds to Bank of England and Federal Reserve policy and to UK growth and inflation data.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

Market DNA

Below, GBP/USD is taken apart: its class, its contract, its hours and what is connected to it. Structure, not a signal.

Market DNA

What GBP/USD is made of.

Its class, its contract, the hours it lives in and the institutions, releases and ideas connected to it.

This is structure. It is not a score and it is not a signal: it tells you what the instrument is, not what it will do.

BaseGBPBritish PoundQuoteUSDUS Dollar

The price of GBP/USD is the amount of USD (US Dollar) needed for 1 GBP.

Asset class: Forex
Contract: 1 standard lot = 100,000 GBP
Platform symbol: GBPUSD
Typical sessions: Home sessions: London and New York.Continuous, 24 hours a day, five days a week. Liquidity varies by session.See the sessions on the World Market Clock
Central banks: Bank of England Federal Reserve
Economic events: Consumer Price Index Gross Domestic Product

Reference data

Where GBP/USD has fixed.

Last reference fixing

1.3220

USD per 1 GBP · 9 Oct 2026

1 fixing: up +0.10%
5 fixings: up +0.15%
21 fixings: down −2.22%
63 fixings: down −1.22%

Position in the 63-fixing range

Low 1.3201, last 1.3220, High 1.3656

The last 63 fixings

Moved together, moved apart

Correlation of daily log returns between GBP/USD and the other pairs on this site over the same 63 fixings. +1.00 means the daily changes lined up perfectly, −1.00 that they mirrored each other, 0 that they were unrelated.

A descriptive statistic of reference fixings over one window. Correlations change, and they say nothing about what comes next.

Highest correlation

Daily changes most often in the same direction.

Lowest correlation

Daily changes least aligned, or opposed when negative.

Reference dataSource: European Central Bank reference ratesUpdated 9 Oct 2026Once per working day, around 16:00 CET. Not live, not tradable and not a GIO4X price. Changes compare the last fixing with the fixing 1, 5, 21 and 63 publications earlier.

Trading conditions

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from: 0.3 pipsminimum, widens with market conditions; each account type also has its own minimum (Classic 2.5 pips, Premium 1.5 pips, ECN 0.2 pips), and the wider of the two applies
Leverage: 1:500depends on instrument and jurisdiction
Minimum lot: 0.01
Contract: 1 standard lot = 100,000 GBP
Platform symbol: GBPUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

On the 777 Raptor demo

Demo symbol GBPUSD. How the demo terminal is set up, not GIO4X’s specification for live trading, which is not yet published.

Contract size, 1.00 lot: 100,000 GBP; Sizes from 0.01 to 100 lots, in steps of 0.01.
Pip value per 1.00 lot, in USD: 10 USD; one pip (0.0001) × 100,000
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:100: not available: reading the simulated price; contract size × price ÷ leverage
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:500: not available: reading the simulated price; 1:500 is the “up to” figure the account types publish: a ceiling, not what an instrument or a client is given

Contract data read from the demo terminal. Demo prices are simulated by GIO4X’s own engine; they are not market prices. Swap rates are not published.

Third-party chart

GBP/USD on a daily chart

The chart is supplied by TradingView and stays unloaded until you ask for it. Loading it connects your browser to TradingView’s servers.

Third partyChart by TradingViewThird-party data for British Pound / US Dollar, not supplied or verified by GIO4X and not a GIO4X price. Symbol FX:GBPUSD, UTC.

Before you trade it

Work the numbers. Know the words.

Tools

All tools

Glossary

Full glossary

In depth

What is particular to British Pound / US Dollar.

GBP/USD is the oldest of the major pairs and still carries its nineteenth-century nickname, “cable”, after the telegraph cable under the Atlantic that carried the rate between London and New York. Sterling belongs to a mid-sized, open economy that has run a deficit with the rest of the world for decades, so it depends on foreign money continuing to arrive. That makes the pair more sensitive than EUR/USD to British politics and to confidence in the public finances.

General education about the underlying market. It states no current price or rate, makes no forecast and is not advice. What GIO4X offers on this instrument is in the trading conditions on this page, not here.

What moves it

The Bank of England against the Federal Reserve: The pair follows the expected gap between Bank Rate and the federal funds rate. The Monetary Policy Committee publishes how each of its members voted, so a decision that leaves Bank Rate unchanged can still move sterling if the split of votes shifts. The link breaks when higher British yields are read as a sign of trouble, not of strength: see the next point.
Confidence in the public finances: Normally a rise in gilt yields supports sterling. On 23 September 2022 a government fiscal statement was followed by gilt yields rising and sterling falling together, to a record low against the dollar on 26 September; on 28 September the Bank of England began temporary purchases of long-dated gilts to restore order. It is the clearest recent case of an interest-rate link running backwards.
The external deficit: The United Kingdom imports more than it exports and funds the difference with capital from abroad. While that capital arrives willingly the deficit goes unnoticed. When it hesitates, sterling is the price that adjusts, which is why political shocks tend to show in this pair faster than in most.
Black Wednesday, 16 September 1992: The United Kingdom joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in October 1990, committing to hold sterling within a band against the Deutsche Mark. On 16 September 1992, after heavy selling that higher interest rates and intervention did not stop, the government suspended sterling’s membership. The site’s history pages tell the episode in full; its lasting effect was the move to an inflation target and, in May 1997, operational independence for the Bank of England.
The European Union referendum: The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on 23 June 2016. As the result became clear in the early hours of 24 June, sterling had one of the largest one-day falls of any major currency in the floating era. For years afterwards the pair traded on the state of the withdrawal negotiations as much as on economic data.

Mechanics

How it is quoted and built.

Base, quote and pip: Sterling is the base currency: the price is the number of dollars one pound costs. A pip is 0.0001, and on 100,000 pounds one pip is worth 10 US dollars. Because a pound has for a long time been worth more than a dollar, a position of 100,000 pounds is a larger sum in dollars than 100,000 euros or Australian dollars would be.
Thin hours carry risk: Sterling is traded mainly in London. In the early Asian hours of 7 October 2016 the pair fell by several per cent within minutes and recovered most of the fall soon after. The Bank for International Settlements’ Markets Committee studied the event and found no single cause, pointing to the time of day and to a market with few participants present.
The busiest hours: Activity starts early in the London morning, when the Office for National Statistics publishes most of its releases, and peaks while London and New York overlap. The Bank of England announces its decisions at midday in London, together with the minutes of the meeting. The late London afternoon, when benchmark rates are set for fund managers, often sees a brief burst of business.

Timetable and sources

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s Interest Rate Decision, with its minutes and vote split
The Bank of England’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report
The United Kingdom’s Consumer Price Index and labour market statistics, monthly
The government’s Budget and other fiscal statements, with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast
The Federal Open Market Committee’s Interest Rate Decision
The monthly United States employment report, with Non-Farm Payrolls

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

Bank of England: Monetary Policy Summary and minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee; Monetary Policy Report
Office for National Statistics: consumer price inflation, labour market overview and balance of payments
Office for Budget Responsibility: Economic and fiscal outlook
Bank for International Settlements, Markets Committee: report on the sterling “flash event” of 7 October 2016
Federal Reserve: Federal Open Market Committee statements and minutes

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

The cost of a trade is the spread, any commission, and financing for each night it is held. The Cost Lab works the three out for a day trade, an overnight position and a longer hold, from figures you enter. A complete total also needs the swap rates, which are not yet published; the Lab shows which input is missing instead of a total that only looks complete.

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk, and may not be suitable for all investors. The high degree of leverage can work against you as well as for you. Before deciding to trade foreign exchange you should carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite. The possibility exists that you could sustain a loss of some or all of your initial investment and therefore you should not invest money that you cannot afford to lose.

GBP/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure

Continue

Fetching the page

GBP/USDBritish Pound / US Dollar

Sterling priced in US dollars, often called “cable”. It responds to Bank of England and Federal Reserve policy and to UK growth and inflation data.

Open an account Chart

What happens next

Choose live or demo, and say where you live. On this website. No name and no e-mail address is asked for here, and nothing is stored.
Register in the client portal. Your name, e-mail address, a password and your country; acceptance of the Terms and the Risk Disclosure. Then you confirm your e-mail address.
Demo: choose your virtual funds and open the terminal. Live: upload your identity documents; an account is opened once they are approved. Live trading is not yet connected.

Where GBP/USD has fixed.

Last reference fixing

1.3220

USD per 1 GBP · 9 Oct 2026

1 fixing: up +0.10%
5 fixings: up +0.15%
21 fixings: down −2.22%
63 fixings: down −1.22%

Position in the 63-fixing range

Low 1.3201, last 1.3220, High 1.3656

The last 63 fixings

Moved together, moved apart

A descriptive statistic of reference fixings over one window. Correlations change, and they say nothing about what comes next.

Highest correlation

Daily changes most often in the same direction.

Lowest correlation

Daily changes least aligned, or opposed when negative.

As published by GIO4X.

Spread from

0.3 pipsminimum, widens with market conditions; each account type also has its own minimum (Classic 2.5 pips, Premium 1.5 pips, ECN 0.2 pips), and the wider of the two applies

Leverage

1:500depends on instrument and jurisdiction

Minimum lot

0.01

Contract

1 standard lot = 100,000 GBP

Platform symbol

GBPUSD

IndicativeSource: GIO4XIndicative trading conditions published by GIO4X. Not a live quote; actual spreads and requirements vary with market conditions and account type.

All trading conditions

On the 777 Raptor demo

Demo symbol GBPUSD. How the demo terminal is set up, not GIO4X’s specification for live trading, which is not yet published.

Contract size, 1.00 lot: 100,000 GBP; Sizes from 0.01 to 100 lots, in steps of 0.01.
Pip value per 1.00 lot, in USD: 10 USD; one pip (0.0001) × 100,000
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:100: not available: reading the simulated price; contract size × price ÷ leverage
Margin per 1.00 lot at 1:500: not available: reading the simulated price; 1:500 is the “up to” figure the account types publish: a ceiling, not what an instrument or a client is given

Contract data read from the demo terminal. Demo prices are simulated by GIO4X’s own engine; they are not market prices. Swap rates are not published.

What is particular to British Pound / US Dollar.

What moves it

The Bank of England against the Federal Reserve: The pair follows the expected gap between Bank Rate and the federal funds rate. The Monetary Policy Committee publishes how each of its members voted, so a decision that leaves Bank Rate unchanged can still move sterling if the split of votes shifts. The link breaks when higher British yields are read as a sign of trouble, not of strength: see the next point.
Confidence in the public finances: Normally a rise in gilt yields supports sterling. On 23 September 2022 a government fiscal statement was followed by gilt yields rising and sterling falling together, to a record low against the dollar on 26 September; on 28 September the Bank of England began temporary purchases of long-dated gilts to restore order. It is the clearest recent case of an interest-rate link running backwards.
The external deficit: The United Kingdom imports more than it exports and funds the difference with capital from abroad. While that capital arrives willingly the deficit goes unnoticed. When it hesitates, sterling is the price that adjusts, which is why political shocks tend to show in this pair faster than in most.
Black Wednesday, 16 September 1992: The United Kingdom joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in October 1990, committing to hold sterling within a band against the Deutsche Mark. On 16 September 1992, after heavy selling that higher interest rates and intervention did not stop, the government suspended sterling’s membership. The site’s history pages tell the episode in full; its lasting effect was the move to an inflation target and, in May 1997, operational independence for the Bank of England.
The European Union referendum: The United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on 23 June 2016. As the result became clear in the early hours of 24 June, sterling had one of the largest one-day falls of any major currency in the floating era. For years afterwards the pair traded on the state of the withdrawal negotiations as much as on economic data.

How it is quoted and built.

Base, quote and pip: Sterling is the base currency: the price is the number of dollars one pound costs. A pip is 0.0001, and on 100,000 pounds one pip is worth 10 US dollars. Because a pound has for a long time been worth more than a dollar, a position of 100,000 pounds is a larger sum in dollars than 100,000 euros or Australian dollars would be.
Thin hours carry risk: Sterling is traded mainly in London. In the early Asian hours of 7 October 2016 the pair fell by several per cent within minutes and recovered most of the fall soon after. The Bank for International Settlements’ Markets Committee studied the event and found no single cause, pointing to the time of day and to a market with few participants present.
The busiest hours: Activity starts early in the London morning, when the Office for National Statistics publishes most of its releases, and peaks while London and New York overlap. The Bank of England announces its decisions at midday in London, together with the minutes of the meeting. The late London afternoon, when benchmark rates are set for fund managers, often sees a brief burst of business.

What is scheduled, and where the facts come from.

Worth knowing the timetable of

The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee’s Interest Rate Decision, with its minutes and vote split
The Bank of England’s quarterly Monetary Policy Report
The United Kingdom’s Consumer Price Index and labour market statistics, monthly
The government’s Budget and other fiscal statements, with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecast
The Federal Open Market Committee’s Interest Rate Decision
The monthly United States employment report, with Non-Farm Payrolls

Named, never dated: dates move. The Economic Events page explains the main releases.

Primary sources

Bank of England: Monetary Policy Summary and minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee; Monetary Policy Report
Office for National Statistics: consumer price inflation, labour market overview and balance of payments
Office for Budget Responsibility: Economic and fiscal outlook
Bank for International Settlements, Markets Committee: report on the sterling “flash event” of 7 October 2016
Federal Reserve: Federal Open Market Committee statements and minutes

Named by publisher and series, so each can be found from the publisher itself. GIO4X has no connection with them.

What would a trade in it cost?

Work it out in the Cost Lab

The risk, in ordinary type.

GBP/USD is traded on margin. Educational information, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade.

Risk disclosure