GBP/USD picks up bids to pare intraday losses around 1.2180 during the mid-Asian session on Monday. Even so, the cable pair remains sidelined on a day as the bulls take a breather after the two consecutive weekly run-up.

The quote’s recent inaction could be linked to the mixed sentiment in the options market ahead of the key Bank of England (BOE) monetary policy meeting and the US employment data for July.

That said, the one-month risk reversal (RR) for the GBP/USD, a difference between the call options and the put options, dropped for the second day by the end of Friday, to -0.030 at the latest. However, the weekly figures turned out to be impressive while posting the four-week uptrend, at 0.070 by the press time.

It should be noted that the recently mixed data from the US and chatters surrounding “technical recession”, as the Sino-American tussles over Taiwan, appears to test the GBP/USD prices as traders brace for another rate hike from the BOE.

Also read: GBP/USD oscillates near one-month high below 1.2200, BOE, US NFP in focus