British Pound hits two-week top vs bearish JPY; intervention risks cap further gains

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The GBP/JPY cross attracts buyers for the second consecutive day and climbs to a nearly two-week high during the early part of the European session on Tuesday.

GBP/JPY gains some follow-through positive traction on Tuesday amid a broadly weaker JPY.
The UK-Japan rate differential keeps the JPY carry trade in play and lends support to the cross.
The JPY bears seem hesitant amid intervention fears, capping further upside for spot prices.

The GBP/JPY cross attracts buyers for the second consecutive day and climbs to a nearly two-week high during the early part of the European session on Tuesday. Bulls now await a sustained move and acceptance above the 215.00 psychological mark before positioning for any further gains amid expectations of a possible intervention by Japanese authorities.

In fact, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara reiterated during a regularly scheduled press conference that he is always ready to take necessary action on forex. Furthermore, Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said that her government will respond appropriately to currency moves at any time as needed. This, along with the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) hawkish outlook, holds back traders from placing aggressive bearish bets on the Japanese Yen (JPY) and caps the GBP/JPY cross.

The Summary of Opinions from the BoJ's June meeting, released last week, showed that policymakers debated mounting inflation risks, with some calling for faster rate increases to near levels deemed neutral to the economy. Adding to this, signs that inflation in Japan was now picking up endorse the BoJ’s policy tightening stance. Despite the supporting factors, the JPY struggles to lure buyers as borrowing costs in Japan remain lower than in advanced G7 economies, including the UK.

In fact, the Bank of England (BoE) base rate is 3.75%, while the BoJ's main policy rate stands at 1.00% – marking the highest rate in 31 years. This, however, still leaves a gap of around 275 basis points (bps), which keeps the so-called carry trade in play and has been a key factor behind the lower-yielding JPY's relative underperformance. However, a goodish pickup in the US Dollar (USD) demand weighs on the British Pound (GBP), keeping a lid on further appreciation for the GBP/JPY cross.

Japanese Yen Price This week

The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies this week. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the Canadian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.16%	-0.29%	0.26%	0.23%	0.16%	-0.17%	-0.20%
EUR	0.16%		-0.17%	0.43%	0.35%	0.31%	-0.07%	-0.09%
GBP	0.29%	0.17%		0.64%	0.54%	0.47%	0.09%	0.08%
JPY	-0.26%	-0.43%	-0.64%		-0.04%	-0.11%	-0.34%	-0.48%
CAD	-0.23%	-0.35%	-0.54%	0.04%		-0.07%	-0.30%	-0.36%
AUD	-0.16%	-0.31%	-0.47%	0.11%	0.07%		-0.36%	-0.38%
NZD	0.17%	0.07%	-0.09%	0.34%	0.30%	0.36%		-0.05%
CHF	0.20%	0.09%	-0.08%	0.48%	0.36%	0.38%	0.05%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).