GBP/JPY churns around 189.00 on Thursday as markets await BoJ rate hikes

• GBP/JPY cycled 189.00 on thin data as investors await rate moves.
• Markets await further detail from BoJ after spring wage negotiations.
• Mid-tier UK Consumer Inflation Expectations to round out Friday.

GBP/JPY rallied and dipped before recovering to the midrange on Thursday, spinning in place near the 189.00 handle as Guppy traders look for movement from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). The BoJ is expected to lift interest rates out of negative rate territory after the Japanese central bank widely telegraphed earlier in the year that high wage increases from spring wage negotiations would push the BoJ into ending the negative rate regime.

Japan’s largest labor confederation reported last week that spring wage negotiations saw the biggest wage rise demands from its workers in over three decades, hitting a 31-year high. According to the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, the average rate of wage increases demanded by its various unions was 5.85%, a full percentage point higher than the same time last year and the largest increase since the 7.15% wage hike in 1993.

It’s a thin showing on the economic calendar for both the Pound Sterling (GBP) and the Japanese Yen (JPY) as markets round the corner into the Friday market session. UK Consumer Inflation Expectations for the year are slated for early in the London trading session, but the release is strictly mid-tier. At last print, UK consumers expected the next 12 months of inflation to land somewhere around 3.3%.

GBP/JPY technical outlook

The Guppy opened Thursday with an anemic rally from the 189.00 handle into the day’s peak bids near 189.50. The pair caught a downside technical rejection from the 200-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 189.43 to set a daily low near 188.60 before recovering into the day’s opening range.

Daily candles remain capped by a firm technical ceiling at the 191.00 handle, but the pair is holding onto median technical levels after several days of declines. The GBP/JPY remains well-supported by a bullish 200-day SMA rising above 184.20.

GBP/JPY hourly chart

GBP/JPY daily chart