GBP/USD remains pressured below 1.3600 on firmer USD

• GBP/USD remains muted on Thursday in the Asian session.
• The US Dollar Index trades strongly above 94.20 despite the recent mild pullback.
• The sterling is struggling with higher energy prices, dismal economic data.    

The GBP/USD pair remains subdued in the Asian session following the previous session's decline. The pair touched the intraday high at 1.3598 before retreating toward the lower level. At the time of writing, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3580, down 0.01% for the day.

The US Dollar Index (USD), which tracks the performance of the greenback against its six major rivals, trades near 94.30 following higher US T- bonds yields. The US benchmark Treasury yields soar 1.54% with more than 1% gains. The greenback gains traction following the reports that US Senate leader Mitch McConnell offered Democrats s deal to raise the US debt ceiling into December to avoid a federal debt default.

The upbeat economic data also added to the attractiveness of the US dollar. The US private companies added 568k workers in September against the market expectations of 428K along with reports that Washington and Beijing have agreed to hold a virtual meeting before the end of the year.

On the other hand, the British pound continues to grind lower despite the assurance from UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. He shrugged off Britain’s problem of empty gas stations, worker shortage and supply-side constraints while speaking at the party’s annual conference on Wednesday. The IHS Markit/ CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined to 52.6 in September as compared to market expectations of 54.0.

As for now, traders keep their focus on the UK Halifax House Price Index and US Initial Jobless Claims to gauge the market sentiment.

GBP/USD additional levels