GBP/JPY drops to near 215.00 as UK core CPI cools down

GBP/JPY trades lower to near 215.10 as soft UK core CPI data drags the Pound Sterling.
Soft UK core CPI data would discourage the BoE from raising interest rates in the policy meeting on April 30.
The BoJ is expected to hold interest rates steady on Tuesday.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The GBP/JPY pair falls to near 215.10 during the European trading session on Wednesday. The pair drops as the Pound Sterling (GBP) faces selling pressure as the United Kingdom (UK) core Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for March arrives lower than estimates.

Pound Sterling Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the New Zealand Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.06%	-0.07%	-0.13%	-0.07%	-0.24%	-0.43%	-0.13%
EUR	0.06%		-0.00%	-0.06%	0.00%	-0.16%	-0.37%	-0.07%
GBP	0.07%	0.00%		-0.04%	0.02%	-0.13%	-0.35%	-0.06%
JPY	0.13%	0.06%	0.04%		0.05%	-0.10%	-0.31%	-0.03%
CAD	0.07%	0.00%	-0.02%	-0.05%		-0.16%	-0.34%	-0.07%
AUD	0.24%	0.16%	0.13%	0.10%	0.16%		-0.21%	0.08%
NZD	0.43%	0.37%	0.35%	0.31%	0.34%	0.21%		0.28%
CHF	0.13%	0.07%	0.06%	0.03%	0.07%	-0.08%	-0.28%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that the core CPI – which excludes volatile components of food, energy, alcohol and tobacco – grew at a moderate pace of 3.1% Year-on-Year (YoY). Economists expected the core inflation to have remained steady at 3.2%.

Inflation in the services sector, which is closely tracked by Bank of England (BoE) officials, decelerated to 4.3% YoY from 4.4% in February.

Meanwhile, the UK headline CPI rose strongly by 3.3% YoY, as expected, against the previous reading of 3%. Signs of cooling UK core price pressures are expected to force traders to pare bets supporting BoE interest rate hikes in the upcoming policy meeting on April 30.

In the remaining week, investors will focus on the flash S&P Global PMI data for April and the Retail Sales data for March, which will be released on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

During the press time, the Japanese Yen (JPY) trades higher against its major currency peers, except antipodeans, despite hopes that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will leave interest rates unchanged at 0.75% in the policy announcement on April 28.

Economic Indicator

Core Consumer Price Index (YoY)

The United Kingdom (UK) Core Consumer Price Index (CPI), released by the Office for National Statistics on a monthly basis, is a measure of consumer price inflation – the rate at which the prices of goods and services bought by households rise or fall – produced to international standards. The YoY reading compares prices in the reference month to a year earlier. Core CPI excludes the volatile components of food, energy, alcohol and tobacco. The Core CPI is a key indicator to measure inflation and changes in purchasing trends. Generally, a high reading is seen as bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP), while a low reading is seen as bearish.

Why it matters to traders?

The Bank of England is tasked with keeping inflation, as measured by the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) at around 2%, giving the monthly release its importance. An increase in inflation implies a quicker and sooner increase of interest rates or the reduction of bond-buying by the BOE, which means squeezing the supply of pounds. Conversely, a drop in the pace of price rises indicates looser monetary policy. A higher-than-expected result tends to be GBP bullish.

Author

Sagar Dua

FXStreet

Sagar Dua is associated with the financial markets from his college days. Along with pursuing post-graduation in Commerce in 2014, he started his markets training with chart analysis.

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