GBP/JPY plunges to near 210.40 as Japan’s Takaichi warns intervention
- GBP/JPY plummets to near 210.40 as Japan warns of intervention to support Yen against speculative moves.
- The BoJ left interest rates unchanged at 0.75% on Friday, as expected.
- Upbeat UK data strengthened the Pound Sterling last week.
The GBP/JPY pair slides almost 1% to near 210.40 at the start of the week. The pair faces intense selling pressure as the Japanese Yen (JPY) outperforms its peers, following comments from Japan’s Prime Minister (PM) Sanae Takaichi that the administration could intervene to address one-way excessive moves against the Yen.
Japanese Yen Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the US Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.38% | -0.21% | -1.14% | -0.14% | -0.31% | -0.24% | -0.64% | |
| EUR | 0.38% | 0.17% | -0.79% | 0.24% | 0.07% | 0.13% | -0.26% | |
| GBP | 0.21% | -0.17% | -0.93% | 0.07% | -0.10% | -0.04% | -0.43% | |
| JPY | 1.14% | 0.79% | 0.93% | 1.04% | 0.85% | 0.93% | 0.53% | |
| CAD | 0.14% | -0.24% | -0.07% | -1.04% | -0.18% | -0.10% | -0.50% | |
| AUD | 0.31% | -0.07% | 0.10% | -0.85% | 0.18% | 0.07% | -0.32% | |
| NZD | 0.24% | -0.13% | 0.04% | -0.93% | 0.10% | -0.07% | -0.39% | |
| CHF | 0.64% | 0.26% | 0.43% | -0.53% | 0.50% | 0.32% | 0.39% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the 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).
"The government will take necessary steps against speculative or very abnormal market moves," Takaichi said over the weekend, but didn’t provide cues on specific levels, Reuters reported.
On the domestic front, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept interest rates steady at 0.75% in the policy meeting on Friday, as expected, and kept the hopes of further rate hikes on the table.
Going forward, investors will focus on comments from Japan’s officials regarding the fiscal budget announcement. Last week, PM Takaichi dissolved the parliament’s lower house, while calling an early snap election in hopes of getting more seats.
Meanwhile, the Pound Sterling (GBP) demonstrates a mixed performance at the start of a light United Kingdom (UK) economic calendar week. Last week, the British currency traded firmly after the release of the upbeat UK Retail Sales data for December, and the preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for January.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that Retail Sales returned to growth after contracting in the last two months. The Retail Sales rose by 0.4% month-on-month (MoM), while it was expected to decline steadily by 0.1%.
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.
Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
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