|

GBP/JPY afloat near 189.00 amid risk jitters, bearish bias prevails

  • GBP/JPY holds near the 189.00 zone but upside remains limited
  • Market sentiment rattled by Fed uncertainty and weak UK inflation outlook
  • Technical picture tilts bearish with key resistance at 188.93 and 189.72

GBP/JPY trades modestly higher near 189.00 during Tuesday’s session after bouncing from intraday lows around 187.47. The pair’s upside follows a minor recovery in the Pound Sterling, which briefly reached 1.3423 against the US Dollar before retreating amid political and economic crosswinds. President Trump’s latest remarks targeting Fed Chair Powell and renewed speculation around the Fed’s independence continue to weigh on risk sentiment and cast a shadow over the broader USD outlook.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen remains well supported by safe-haven flows and expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will continue tightening policy. This dynamic keeps JPY resilient across G10 crosses. The British Pound, while still outperforming many peers, shows signs of exhaustion following a strong rally, as traders begin to price in possible rate cuts by the Bank of England (BoE) due to weak inflation and labor market trends.

From a technical perspective, GBP/JPY flashes a bearish signal despite today’s modest gains. The pair trades near the top of its daily range (187.47–188.83), but the MACD and Awesome Oscillator both support selling pressure. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains neutral at 44.74, while moving averages paint a clearly bearish backdrop. The 20-day (190.32), 100-day (192.15), and 200-day (192.84) Simple Moving Averages all slope lower, joined by bearish confirmation from the 10-day EMA (188.94) and 30-day EMA (190.25). Resistance is found at 188.81, 188.94, and 189.73, while support lies at 188.57.

The overall trend leans negative unless a sustained break above 189.70 materializes. For now, GBP/JPY remains vulnerable to deeper pullbacks amid political risk and technical headwinds.

GBP/JPY Daily chart

Author

Patricio Martín

Patricio is an economist from Argentina passionate about global finance and understanding the daily movements of the markets.

More from Patricio Martín
Share:

Editor's Picks

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP risk further decline as market fear persists amid slowing demand

Bitcoin holds $90,000 but stays below the 50-day EMA as institutional demand wanes. Ethereum steadies above $3,000 but remains structurally weak due to ETF outflows. XRP ETFs resume inflows, but the price struggles to gain ground above key support.

Week ahead – US CPI might challenge the geopolitics-boosted Dollar

Geopolitics may try to steal the limelight from US data. A possible US Supreme Court ruling on tariffs could dictate market movements. A crammed data calendar next week, US CPI comes on Tuesday; Fedspeak to intensify.

XRP trades under pressure amid weak retail demand

XRP presses down on the 50-day EMA support as risk-averse sentiment spreads despite a positive start to 2026. XRP faces declining retail demand, as reflected in futures Open Interest, which has fallen to $4.15 billion.