GBP/JPY soars to near 198.80 as BoJ holds rates steady, BoE policy eyed

GBP/JPY surges to near 198.80 as BoJ didn’t provide a timeframe for interest rate hikes after keeping them steady at 0.25%.
The BoJ is worried about potential risks from incoming US protectionism policies under the leadership of Donald Trump.
Investors await the BoE policy in which the central bank is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at 4.75%.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The GBP/JPY pair rallies to near 198.80 in Thursday’s European session. The cross strengthens after the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy announcement in which the central bank left interest rates unchanged at 0.25%, as expected. Eight members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) supported keeping interest rates steady, while policymaker Naoki Tamura, a known policy hawk, proposed raising them by 25 basis points (bps) to 0.5%.

BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda acknowledged that incoming policies from United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump when he will take office could pose a risk to Japan’s economic outlook. Ueda kept doors open for interest rate hikes in 2025 as he said, "If the economy and prices move in line with our forecast, we will continue to raise our policy rate”. He refrained from committing a timeframe for policy adjustment.

Investors brace for more volatility in the Japanese Yen (JPY) as the National Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November is lined up for release on Friday. The inflation report is expected to show that the National CPI, excluding Fresh food, accelerated to 2.6% from 2.3% in October.

Meanwhile, the Pound Sterling (GBP) performs strongly against a majority of peers ahead of the Bank of England’s (BoE) interest rate decision at 12:00 GMT. The BoE is widely expected to opt for leaving interest rates steady at 4.75%. Therefore, investors will focus more on BoE’s guidance on interest rates for 2025.

Out of the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), only policymaker Swati Dhingra is expected to propose easing interest rates by 25 bps.

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.

EUR/USD deflates to multi-week lows near 1.1640

EUR/USD is down for the third straight day on Thursday, coming under extra downside pressure and approaching its transitory 55-day SMA around 1.1640 amid tge persistent recovery in the Greenback. Moving forward, market participants should remain prudent ahead of the release of Friday’s US NFP figures.

GBP/USD: Further weakness could challenge 1.3400

GBP/USD remains under unabated selling pressure on Thursday, slipping to fresh three-day lows around 1.3415 in response to further improvement in the sentiment surrounding the Greenback ahead of Friday’s key NFP data.

Gold edges lower as bulls opt to wait for the crucial US NFP report

Gold struggles to capitalize on the previous day's goodish move up from the vicinity of the $4,400 mark and attracts some sellers during the Asian session on Friday as bulls seem reluctant ahead of the US NFP report. The critical US employment details will offer more cues about the Fed's rate-cut path, which, in turn, will influence the US Dollar price dynamics and provide a fresh impetus to the non-yielding bullion. In the meantime, dovish Fed expectations and rising geopolitical tensions might continue to act as a tailwind for the XAU/USD.

XRP slides as institutional and retail demand falters

Ripple (XRP) is trading down for the third consecutive day on Thursday amid escalating volatility in the cyrptocurrency market. After peaking at $2.41 on Tuesday, its highest print since November 14 amid the early-year rally, XRP has quickly ran into aggressive profit-taking.

2026 economic outlook: Clear skies but don’t unfasten your seatbelts yet

Most years fade into the background as soon as a new one starts. Not 2025: a year of epochal shifts, in which the macroeconomy was the dog that did not bark. What to expect in 2026? The shocks of 2025 will not be undone, but neither will they be repeated.

XRP slides as institutional and retail demand falters

Ripple is trading down for the third consecutive day on Thursday amid escalating volatility in the cyrptocurrency market. After peaking at $2.41 on Tuesday, its highest print since November 14 amid the early-year rally, XRP has quickly ran into aggressive profit-taking.