GBP/JPY clings to modest gains, around mid-148.00s post-UK jobs data

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The GBP/JPY cross recovered part of previous session's losses and refreshed session tops, beyond mid-148.00s post-UK jobs report.

The spot caught some fresh bids after the latest UK labor market report showed unemployment rate held steady at 42-year low level of 4.3% while the average weekly earnings, both including and excluding bonus, recorded a slight better-than-expected growth of 2.2% and 2.1% respectively.

The positive reading seems to have been largely negated by a larger than expected rise in the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits, at 1.7K as against 1K expected, and an upward revision of last month's claimant count.

Moreover, with inflation at 5-1/2 year highs and a possible November BoE rate hike nearly priced in the market, today's data turned out to be a non-event and did little to attract any fresh buying interest around the British Pound.

Meanwhile, fading safe-haven demand, as depicted by a strong uptick in the USD/JPY major remained supportive of the pair's bid tone through early European session.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate resistance is pegged near 148.65-70 zone, above which the cross is likely to make a fresh attempt towards conquering the 149.00 handle and aim to testing its next hurdle near 149.30 level.

On the flip side, retracement back below the 148.00 handle now seems to drag the cross towards 147.65 intermediate support en-route the 147.00 round figure mark.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

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