GBP/JPY rises above 167.30 on higher-than-anticipated UK Inflation report

• GBP/JPY has climbed above 167.35 as UK headline inflation remained above a double-digit figure vs. consensus of 9.8%.
• The collaborative impact of surprise upside in the UK labor cost index and accelerated inflation would force BoE to raise rates further.
• BoJ Ueda has supported buying government debt as part of monetary policy

The GBP/JPY pair has jumped sharply to near 167.37 as United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported higher-than-anticipated inflation data. Headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) has landed at 10.1%, higher than the consensus of 9.8% but lower than the former release of 10.4%. It looks like UK inflation is shy of coming below the double-digit figure.

Core CPI that excludes oil and food prices remained steady at 6.2% and higher than the consensus of 6.0%. Meanwhile, Producer Price Index (PPI) report has softened on a broader note indicating that producers have trimmed prices of goods and services at factory gates due to a fall in gasoline prices.

This has faded the worthiness of Bank of England (BoE) policymakers, which were confident that inflation will quickly decelerate from next month, and February’s upbeat inflation is a one-time thing.

On Tuesday, Three month Labor cost index (excluding bonuses) landed higher at 6.6% than the consensus of 6.2% but in line with the prior release. Employment data remained downbeat as the Unemployment Rate jumped to 3.8% from the consensus and the former release of 3.7%. Also, Claimant Count Change was more than 28K while the street was anticipating a decline of 11.8K.

The collaborative impact of surprise upside labor cost index and accelerated inflation data would force BoE Governor Andrew Bailey to raise rates further.

On the Japanese Yen front, to augment the expansion of stimulus in the economy, novel Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said in the Japanese parliament on Tuesday, “The BoJ is buying government debt as part of monetary policy.” He further added the intention of bond purchase is not of monetizing government debt.