GBP/USD

GBP/USD is the exchange rate between the British pound sterling and the U.S. dollar, historically nicknamed "cable" — a name dating back to the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate was transmitted between London and New York via a transatlantic telegraph cable.

The pair is influenced by the relative policy paths of the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve, alongside U.K.-specific factors including inflation and growth data, and — since 2016 — an added layer of sensitivity to political and trade developments stemming from Britain's exit from the European Union, which introduced new trade-relationship uncertainty that the pair had not priced in for decades prior.

GBP/USD is one of the more historically volatile major currency pairs, in part because the U.K. economy is smaller and more trade-dependent than the U.S. or eurozone, making sterling more sensitive to shifts in global risk sentiment and capital flows.