{"id":44914,"date":"2026-04-20T09:36:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en\/uncategorized\/amid-renewed-us-iran-tensions-gbp-usd-stays-lower-near-1-3500-despite-trimming-gap-down-losses\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T09:36:30","slug":"amid-renewed-us-iran-tensions-gbp-usd-stays-lower-near-1-3500-despite-trimming-gap-down-losses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/live-updates\/amid-renewed-us-iran-tensions-gbp-usd-stays-lower-near-1-3500-despite-trimming-gap-down-losses\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid renewed US\u2013Iran tensions, GBP\/USD stays lower near 1.3500, despite trimming gap-down losses"},"content":{"rendered":"GBP\/USD pared some losses after opening with a gap down, but stayed lower near 1.3500 in Asian trading on Monday. The US Dollar found support from safe-haven demand linked to renewed US\u2013Iran tensions.\n\nThe Guardian reported that Iran\u2019s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said a US blockade of Iran\u2019s ports and coastline is aggression that violates the ceasefire. He said it amounts to collective punishment, and described it as a war crime and crimes against humanity.\n\n

Market Reaction And Price Action<\/h3>\nThe pair moved further from a two-month high near 1.3600 reached on Friday. It recovered a few pips from a one-week low set in early Asian trade, and was still down over 0.15% on the day.\n\nRisk sentiment weakened amid tensions over the Straight of Hormuz. Iran closed the waterway after briefly opening it over the weekend, alongside a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.\n\nThe developments reduced expectations for further peace talks. The current ceasefire is due to end on 22 April.\n\nWe are seeing a familiar pattern as geopolitical risk drives a flight to the safe-haven US Dollar, much like we observed during the Middle East flare-up in April 2025. This move is pressuring GBP\/USD and we should anticipate further strength in the dollar index (DXY), which has already pushed past the 106.00 mark recently. Derivative traders should be positioned for a risk-off environment to persist in the short term.\n\n

Options And Volatility Signals<\/h3>\nThe looming April 22 ceasefire deadline is a significant catalyst for a spike in market volatility. During a similar escalation last year, the VIX index, which measures expected market volatility, jumped by nearly 25% in just a few days. Therefore, buying GBP\/USD put options offers a direct way to hedge against a breakdown in talks and a subsequent sharp move lower in the currency pair.\n\nThe closure of the Strait of Hormuz is a critical factor, as nearly 20 million barrels of oil, or about 20% of global consumption, pass through it daily. A sustained blockage could drive Brent crude prices back over $100 per barrel, creating an inflationary shock that complicates the Bank of England’s policy. While this could argue for a hawkish central bank, the immediate safe-haven demand for the dollar is the dominant trading theme.\n\nWe should also monitor the options market, particularly the skew in GBP\/USD risk reversals, which currently show a growing premium for puts over calls. This indicates that market participants are actively buying downside protection against a fall in the pound. This growing bearish sentiment could be exploited by setting up trades like bear call spreads, which would profit if the pair remains below a certain level like 1.3600.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GBP\/USD steadied near 1.3500 as safe-haven Dollar demand rose on renewed US\u2013Iran tensions, Hormuz closure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-latam\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}