GBP/USD dribbles around 1.2250 amid upbeat options market, pre-UK GDP anxiety

Having refreshed a two-year low, GBP/USD treads water around 1.2250 amid the mid-Asian session on Thursday.

In doing so, the cable pair struggles to justify the options market optimism as traders remain cautious ahead of the key UK data dump, including the preliminary readings of the Q1 2022 GDP.

That said, the GBP/USD pair’s ratio of calls to puts, known as risk reversal (RR), prints the highest daily figure in two weeks, +0.3000 at the latest, as well as braces for the biggest weekly RR in a month with the +0.325 number by the press time.

The upbeat mood in the options market could be linked to the US dollar’s inability to cheer firmer inflation data and mixed Fedspeak, not to forget the absence of major data/events going forward and the hawkish comments from the European Central Bank (ECB) that negatively impacts the greenback.

Moving on, GBP/USD traders will pay close attention to the UK GDP amid chatters of slower economic growth challenging the BOE’s hawkish plan.

Read: GBP/USD to test 1.2260, downside remains favored on higher US CPI, UK GDP eyed