GBP/JPY flirting with session lows, around 141.70 region

• Brexit uncertainties exerted some heavy pressure on the British pound.
• GBP/JPY erased the gains led by BoE’s hawkish pause last Thursday.

The GBP/JPY cross continued losing ground through the mid-European session and is currently placed near the lower end of its daily trading range, around the 141.70-65 region.

The cross came under some aggressive selling pressure on the first day of a new trading week and has now reversed its gains recorded over the past two trading sessions – led by the Bank of England’s hawkish decision to leave rates unchanged at 0.75%.

GBP weighed down by renewed Brexit uncertainties

Renewed uncertainty over the UK’s future trade relationship with the European Union exerted some fresh downward pressure on the British pound, with bulls shrugging off Monday’s stronger-than-expected final UK Manufacturing PMI print.

The market concerns were further fueled by the EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s diverging comments on the UK-EU trade, which further dented the already weaker sentiment surrounding the cross.

Meanwhile, fading safe-haven demand for the Japanese yen, amid a goodish rebound in the global risk sentiment, also did little lend any support or stall the pair’s sharp intraday slide – further below the 142.00 round-figure mark.

It will now be interesting to see if the pair is able to find any support at lower levels or continues with its downward momentum, which would mark a near-term bearish breakdown and pave the way for a further depreciating move.

Technical levels to watch