GBP/JPY drops to over 1-week lows, bears eyeing a break below 134.00 mark

The GBP/JPY cross dropped to over one-week lows in the last hour, with bears now eyeing a sustained break below the 134.00 round-figure mark.

The cross came under some fresh selling pressure on Thursday and extended the previous day's rejection slide from the key 135.00 psychological mark. The offered tone surrounding the British pound was seen as one of the key factors exerting some pressure on the GBP/JPY cross.

The sterling remained depressed following the release of UK employment details, which showed that the number of people claiming jobless benefits unexpectedly fell by 28.1K in June. Adding to this, the unemployment rate held steady at 3.9% in May as compared to 4.2% anticipated.

Meanwhile, concerns about worsening US-China relations overshadowed the latest optimism over a potential COVID-19 vaccine. This, in turn, took its toll on the global risk sentiment, which further benefitted the Japanese yen's relative safe-haven status against its British counterpart.

With Thursday's downfall, the cross has retreated nearly 200 pips from the vicinity of the 136.00 mark over the past five trading sessions. Some follow-through weakness below the 134.00 mark will set the stage for a slide further towards the 133.35-30 horizontal support amid the risk-off mood.

Technical levels to watch