GBP/JPY retreats below 213.50 amid rumours of a Yen intervention

• GBP/JPY retreats below 213.50 after hitting fresh highs near 215.00.
• Wild Yen fluctuations have raised speculation about Tokyo's intervention.
• The Yen had depreciated across the board following BoJ's Monetary Policy Decision earlier on Friday.the

The Pound has retraced to the mid-range of the 123.00s, trading at 213.47 against the JPY at the time of writing, after whipsawing more than 200 pips as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuho Ueda concluded his press conference, which has rumours of a Yen intervention.

Japanese authorities do not disclose information about intervention in FX markets, and therefore, it is impossible to confirm whether the recent Yen moves are due to one of them.

Previously, Ueda observed that current monetary policy remains accommodative and that inflation is approaching the 2% level, suggesting further rate hikes. The BoJ Governor also affirmed that the bank needs to assess the implications of previous rate hikes before tightening policy further. These coments however, failed to provide any significant support to the Yen.

The BoJ kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 0.75%, as widely expected, after a 25-basis-point hike in December that brought rates to their highest level in 30 years.

In the UK, Retail Sales data from December beat expectations. Figures released by National Statistics on Friday revealed that retail consumption grew 0.4% following a 0.1% contraction in November, and against market expectations of another 0.1% drop. 

Year on year, Retail Sales accelerated by 2.5% following a 1.8% increase in November, which was revised up from a previous estimate of a 0.6% gain. The impact of these figures in the Pound, however, has been marginal.