GBP/JPY looks to test 150.00 post-BOJ disappointment, Kuroda comments

GBP/JPY edges higher on Wednesday  in the early European trading hours. The pair continued to trade in a consolidated range of 148.50 and 150.00 for the last two sessions.

At the time of writing, the GBP/JPY pair is trading at 149.56, up 0.26% for the day.

Investors digested Evengrande default fears and braced up for the FOMC meeting due later in the day.

The British pound gained on improved risk appetite after China's Evergrande’s main unit decided to pay shareholders bond coupon payment on September 23. 

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a free trade agreement between the US and the UK is very unlikely to materialize before the next general election in 2024. This, in turn, weighed negatively on the British pound.

It is worth noting that the S&P 500 Futures is trading at 4,367 with 0.56% gains.

On the other hand, the Japanese yen remained on the backfoot after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) left its short-term interest rate unchanged at -0.1% and kept the 10-year government bond yields at around 0%.

In addition to that, the BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda while addressing a press conference said that the economy remained in a severe situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the doors are open for further accommodative monetary policy stance if such a situation arises. 

As for now, investors are waiting for the US FOMC Economic Projections and Fed Interest Rate Decision to take fresh trading impetus.

GBP/JPY additional levels