GBP/JPY tanks into new eight-month low, challenging 145.00 handle

• Sterling falls as the Yen bounces on risk aversion in the early Tokyo session.
• This schedule on the macro calendar leaves the pair exposed to overall market sentiment ahead of the UK’s first market session this week.

The GBP/JPY is knocking back into fresh lows in the early Tokyo session, trading near the 145.00 major handle.

Asia session  action whipped risk-off after the Chinese Yuan-US Dollar exchange rate was set above 6.4 for the first time in a year, and the crossing of the major level sent Asia action into a quick round of risk aversion, sending the safe haven Yen bounding higher across the board.

The Sterling returns to markets after a long weekend kept UK institutions out of the action for Monday, but the economic calendar for the GBP remains a thin showing for this week.

GBP/JPY levels to watch

The pair pushed past the 145.00 level briefly in today’s risk-off spike, but the Sterling has managed to recover, and as FXStreet’s own Omkar Godbole noted, the pair’s near-term support remains at “144.99 (March 2 low), and resistance is lined up at 147.06 (May 4 low) and 148.06 (5-day moving average).”