GBP/JPY eyes 147.50 on BRC retail sales beat
- The Sterling halts its decline against the Yen, accelerates on upbeat retail data.
- BOJ hoping their Yen-bearish rhetoric starts to have an effect soon.
The GBP/JPY is testing into 147.40 as of writing, bumping up on better-than-expected retail figures for the UK.
The Sterling is lifting to fresh overnight session highs following the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Like-For-Like Retail Sales year-on-year data posting a hold at the previous reading of 0.6%, instead of the decline to 0.4% that was anticipated by market forecasters. The BRC Retail Sales shows that retail activity within the UK is outperforming expectations, despite overall sluggish growth.
The GBP/JPY pair caught a bid in Monday's trading thanks to backing down by the Yen bulls to kick off the week's trading; the pair fell below the 200-day SMA last week and is looking to reclaim lost territory. With the Bank of Japan (BOJ) working desperately to talk down the Yen, positive macro beats from the UK will only help the Sterling against the Yen.
GBP/JPY Technicals
With the pair looking to reverse from the potential bottom at 145.00, technical traders will be looking for a retracement to hold above the 146.50 area before a full correction can begin pricing in, though the pair will need to deal with the confluence of the 200-day SMA and 10-day EMA forming resistance at 147.75. Intraday levels are priced in at 145.93 and 145.00 for support with resistance at 147.90 and 148.50.