“¢ The UK wages growth match estimates and offsets jump in claimant count change.
“¢ Broad-based JPY weakness provides an additional boost and remains supportive.
“¢ Investors now look forward to the BoE’s inflation report hearings for fresh impetus.
The GBP/JPY cross quickly reversed early European sessions dip to 148.57 and jumpes back to session tops, around the 149.00 handle post-UK jobs data.
The cross caught some fresh bids after the latest UK employment details showed a rise of 2.6% in average earnings (including bonus) and 2.9% growth (excluding bonus) in the three months to March. The readings were in-line with consensus estimates, largely offsetting an unexpected jump in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits during the month of April, and provided a minor boost to the British Pound.
Meanwhile, an offered tone around the Japanese Yen, despite the prevalent cautious sentiment around equity markets, which tends to underpin demand for traditional safe-haven currencies, remained supportive of the pair’s modest uptick for the third consecutive session.
With the key UK economic data out of the way, focus now shifts to the BoE’s inflation report hearings, which might still support the case of a delayed BoE rate hike move and eventually provide some fresh bullish impetus.
Technical levels to watch
Momentum beyond the 149.00 handle is likely to confront resistance near the very important 200-day SMA, currently near the 149.20 region, above which the cross seems all set to aim towards challenging the key 150.00 psychological mark.
On the flip side, the 148.60-55 region now seems to have emerged as an immediate support, which if broken might prompt some fresh selling and accelerate the fall back towards testing the 148.00-147.90 strong horizontal support.
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