GBP/JPY jumps to near 214.00 as yen gives back some of gains caused by Japanese intervention

During Friday’s Asian session, the GBP/JPY pair increased by 0.35% at around 214.00. The pair is trending higher as the Japanese yen (JPY) erases most of Thursday’s gains, which resulted from Japan’s intervention in forex markets to counter one-way speculative moves against the domestic currency.

Today’s Japanese Yen price

The table below shows the current percentage change of the Japanese Yen (JPY) against the major listed currencies. The Japanese yen was at its weakest against the US dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	BOOR	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.02%	0.03%	0.35%	0.00%	0.13%	0.22%	0.03%
EUR	-0.02%		0.00%	0.31%	-0.04%	0.11%	0.18%	0.00%
GBP	-0.03%	-0.00%		0.30%	-0.03%	0.09%	0.17%	0.02%
JPY	-0.35%	-0.31%	-0.30%		-0.33%	-0.22%	-0.16%	-0.31%
BOOR	-0.01%	0.04%	0.03%	0.33%		0.11%	0.20%	0.04%
AUD	-0.13%	-0.11%	-0.09%	0.22%	-0.11%		0.08%	-0.06%
NZD	-0.22%	-0.18%	-0.17%	0.16%	-0.20%	-0.08%		-0.15%
CHF	-0.03%	-0.00%	-0.02%	0.31%	-0.04%	0.06%	0.15%

The heat map shows the percentage changes of the major currencies relative to each other. The base currency is selected from the left column and the quote currency from the top row. For example, if you select Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).

Japan intervened on Thursday to strengthen the yen against the US dollar (USD), the first official currency action in almost two years, according to a Reuters report.

Japanese Finance Minister (FM) Satsuki Katayama also said on Thursday that Japan is getting closer to taking decisive action on currency markets.

Meanwhile, the Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI) ex. Fresh Food data for April was lower than expected. The boost in core inflation decreased to 1.5% year-on-year (y/y) from 1.7% in March, although it was expected to be higher and amount to 1.8%.

In Asian trade, the pound sterling (GBP) is trading higher against its major currencies, except the Canadian dollar (CAD), as the Bank of England (BoE) has created room to raise interest rates if the energy supply shock persists.

On Thursday, the BoE left interest rates unchanged at 3.75%, as expected, and Governor Andrew Bailey warned that there may be effects from a second round of inflation triggered by the energy crisis, but the central bank will not wait and act sooner. “It would be a mistake to wait for the second-round effects to take action, because then it would be too late,” Bailey said at a news conference, Reuters reported.

Economic indicator

CPI in Tokyo excluding fresh food (y/y)

Tokyo Consumer Price Index (CPI), published by Statistical Office of Japan measures monthly price fluctuations of goods and services purchased by households in the Tokyo region, excluding fresh food, the price of which often changes depending on the weather. The index is widely considered the leading indicator of Japan’s overall CPI because it is released several weeks before the nationwide reading. A y/y reading compares prices in a reference month with the same month a year earlier. Generally, a high reading is seen as bullish for the Japanese Yen (JPY), while a low reading is seen as bearish.