GBP/JPY struggles near 20-month lows amid prevalent risk-off mood

   •  Selloff across global equities boosts JPY’s relative safe-haven status. 
   •  Bulls seemed unimpressed by upbeat UK manufacturing PMI print.
   •  Brexit uncertainties to keep a lid on any attempted recovery move. 

The Japanese Yen continued gaining strong traction across the board, with the GBP/JPY cross tumbling below mid-138.00s to the lowest level since April 2017.

The cross extended Monday's sharp retracement slide from the vicinity of the 141.00 handle and remained under some intense selling pressure for the fourth consecutive session amid the global flight to safety. 

Today's disappointing Chinese manufacturing PMI fueled concerns about global economic growth and triggered a fresh wave of global risk-aversion trade, evident from a sea of red across equity markets.

The risk-off mood was seen boosting the Japanese Yen's perceived safe-haven status and turned out to be one of the key factors that prompted some aggressive selling on the first trading day of the New Year. 

Meanwhile, upbeat UK manufacturing PMI, which rose to a six-month high level of 54.2 in December, failed to impress bullish traders, albeit helped limit further downfall, at least for the time being.

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to attract any buying interest or the ongoing slide marks a fresh bearish breakdown amid persistent uncertainties surrounding the UK's exit from the European Union.

Technical levels to watch