GBP/JPY challenging 145.50 as market sentiment tests the water

• Sterling lifting against the Yen as markets recover cautiously.
• The BoE is due later with another rate call that is expected to hold steady.

The GBP/JPY is trading into 145.50 in Thursday’s Asia session ahead of an upcoming Bank of England (BoE) showing for another rate call.

The Sterling is walking higher against the Yen as broader markets cautiously recover from the early week’s risk aversion, and the GBP/JPY pair is looking to stage a correction against the latest leg down for the pair.

The Yen has a quiet Thursday lined up with National CPI due at 23:30 GMT, but the headline figure, which is expected to decline from 0.6% to 0.3%, but with the Tokyo CPI figures being a fairly accurate bellwether of national inflation, and releasing several weeks earlier, impact is likely to be limited, while on the Sterling side will be another rate call from the BoE, where the central bank is widely expected to remain stalled on a potential rate hike, and hopes of a summer rate hike are beginning to fade as the ‘first quarter slowdown’ continues to seep further and further into the rest of the year.

GBP/JPY levels to watch

With the pair crawling higher for Thursday, the immediate challenge for bulls will be to make a break of the 145.70 level and then hold it in order to make a run at last week’s high of 147.85, while a decline breaking the 144.40 level will quickly run into the May low at 143.20.