GBP/JPY plummets to fresh six-week lows, 141.00 back on sight
After yesterday's tepid recovery move, the GBP/JPY cross came under intense selling pressure and tumbled to the lowest level since April 25.
Spot reversed previous session's tepid recovery move and resumed with its recent depreciating move from yearly tops, just above the 148.00 handle. A fresh wave of global risk-aversion trade, as depicted by steep losses in global equity markets, drove investors towards traditional safe-haven assets, including the Japanese Yen, and has been the key factor weighing heavily on the major.
The selling pressure intensified after the latest YouGov UK election model results showed Conservatives falling short of an overall majority by 22-seats and prompted investors to move away from the British Pound ahead of the crucial UK general election on Thursday.
With no relevant macroeconomic data on Tuesday, political headlines coming out of the UK once again dominated sentiment surrounding the British Pound. This coupled with risk-off environment has now dragged the cross to fresh six week low, closer to the 141.00 handle.
• UK elections: Big risks for a small gain – TDS
Technical levels to watch
Bears would be eyeing for a decisive break through the 141.00 mark, below which the cross is likely to accelerate the slide towards 140.40-35 intermediate support before eventually dropping to the key 140.00 psychological mark. On the upside, any recovery attempts might now confront immediate resistance near 141.85-90 region, which if cleared might trigger a short-covering bounce and lift the cross back towards mid-142.00s en-route the 143.00 handle.