GBP/USD trades with mild losses below 1.3400 ahead of US PMI data

• GBP/USD trades with mild negative bias near 1.3370 in Tuesday’s Asian session. 
• Lower expectations of a jumbo Fed rate cut lift the US Dollar. 
• BOE’s Greene said strong UK consumers could fuel price pressures. 

The GBP/USD pair struggles to gain ground around 1.3370 during the Asian session on Tuesday. Less dovish remarks from Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell provide some support to the Greenback and drag the major pair lower. Investors brace for the US September ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data and the speeches from Fed’s Raphael Bostic and Lisa Cook later on Tuesday. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday that the US central bank intends to do what it takes to keep the economy "in solid shape," but it is not in a hurry and will lower its benchmark rate ‘over time.’ Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic noted on Monday he would be open to another 50 basis point (bps) rate reduction at the November meeting if upcoming data show job growth slowing faster than expected. However. Bostic said he previously penciled in just one more 25 bps rate cut this year.

The US labor market data will take center stage on Friday and will likely influence the US rate cut path. The US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) is estimated to see 140K job additions in September, while the Unemployment Rate is forecast to remain unchanged at 4.2%. If the jobs report showed a weaker-than-expected outcome, this could prompt the central bank to consider cutting rates more deeply, which might exert some selling pressure on the USD. 

On the Cable front, the Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Megan Greene said that a consumption-driven recovery in the UK could set off a renewed bout of inflation, but further interest rate cuts are likely as prices are “moving in the right direction, per Bloomberg. Nonetheless, traders have lowered their bets on a BOE rate cut in November in the last few days.