GBP/JPY Price Analysis: Bulls flirt with key upside hurdle near 166.50 ahead of UK employment data

• GBP/JPY grinds near intraday high during three-day uptrend ahead of UK employment statistics.
• Seven-week-old ascending resistance line challenges buyers amid nearly overbought RSI (14).
• Multiple failures to cross immediate trend line resistance join price-negative RSI conditions to tease sellers.
• 10-DMA restricts immediate downside, 161.00 appears a tough nut to crack for GBP/JPY bears.

GBP/JPY buyers struggle to keep the reins as they prod a short-term key upside hurdle near 166.50 heading into Tuesday’s London open. In doing so, the cross-currency pair portrays the trader’s anxiety ahead of the UK’s March month Claimant Count figures, as well as the ILO Unemployment Rate in the three months to February.

Also read: GBP/USD justifies pre-data anxiety around 1.2380 ahead of UK employment numbers

Not only an upward-sloping resistance line from late February, around 166.50 at the latest, but a nearly overbought RSI (14) line also challenges the GBP/JPY pair buyers as traders await the key UK data.

Even if the cross-currency pair manages to cross the immediate trend line hurdle, it needs to be backed by upbeat British jobs report to aim for the December 2022 peak of around 169.30.

Following that, the 170.00 psychological magnet may challenge the GBP/JPY bulls before directing them to October 2022 high surrounding 172.15.

Meanwhile, the 10-DMA level of near 165.40 puts a floor under the GBP/JPY prices before convincing the short-term bears to aim for the monthly low of 162.90.

However, the pair sellers need to remain cautious unless the quote stays beyond the 161.00 support confluence encompassing the previous resistance line from October 2022 and an upward-sloping support line from the last September.

GBP/JPY: Daily chart

Trend: Pullback expected