GBP/JPY holding steady near 144.50 as market sentiment grinds it out

The GBP/JPY is flat heading into Friday's Asia session, sticking close to 144.50 heading into the week's end. The Sterling dipped against the Yen on Thursday into a low of 143.77, the GBP/JPY pair recovered to end the day flat, and the consolidation continued into the overnight session.

The UK's GFK Consumer Confidence survey for June came in at -9, compared to the previous reading of -7, suggesting that consumers are facing worsening expectations of a continued economic downturn within the British economy. The GFK survey was expected to hold steady at -7, but worsened expectations are continuing to seep through the general public, though this may be exacerbated by steady coverage within the UK of the ongoing Brexit negotiations, which continue to make little headway as the different sides struggle to reach successful conclusions.

On the JPY side, Japan's Tokyo CPI came in better than expected, with the y/y core CPI reading printing at 0.7%, beating the 0.6% forecast and clearing the previous reading of 0.5%. Unemployment also ticked down to 2.2% from the previous period's 2.5%, but the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is struggling to get inflation geared up to their 2% target, and sluggish growth coupled with a rock-bottom unemployment rate is vexing Japan's central bank as wage and price growth refuse to cover the gap.

GBP/JPY Levels to watch

Yesterday's decline marked in a new low for June near 144.75, and a continued decline will see the pair testing into 2018's low at May's bottom of 143.20, while a bullish recovery will face resistance at last week's high of 146.65, with June's high near 148.10 waiting further above.