British Pound/US Dollar - GBP/USD

GBP/USD Background

The GBP/USD is one of the oldest and most traded currency pairs in the world. One of the major currency pairs, the price movement of the GBP/USD is primarily driven by economic developments in the UK and the USA.

Because it is one of the heaviest traded currency pairs, the GBP/USD is less volatile than many currency pairs, especially minors and exotics, and spreads are generally tight – averaging about 1.5 pips. The best time to trade the GBP/USD is in the crossover between the New York and London markets, as this is the time when the price movement is most active.

Common events that affect the price movement of the GBP/USD are major announcements on interest rates by the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve and the release of economic data that measures the economic health of the United Kingdom and the USA. The most-watched data includes employment rates, GDP growth and business confidence levels. The USD is also the world’s foremost haven currency, so the USD tends to strengthen against the GBP during economic downturns and times of financial instability.

The table below shows the Forex brokers with the lowest trading costs for GBP/USD, including the spread and commission. It also details the industry average spread and industry average trading cost for 1 lot of GBP/USD.