The GBP has declined against the Japanese currency at the beginning of today’s trading, as the pound sterling awaits the Purchasing Managers’ Index data for the manufacturing and services sectors, and investors are also affected by the Japanese yen data, as housing starts in Japan decreased by 6.7 percent on an annual basis in July 2023, which is worse than market expectations. A decrease of 0.8 percent, following the previous month’s decline. Retail sales in Japan also rose by 6.8 percent on an annual basis in July 2023, exceeding expectations for a growth of 5.4 percent. It is the 17th consecutive month of expansion in retail trade as consumption continues to recover from the recession caused by the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei index rose by more than 285 points, the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 100 points, and in China, the Shanghai Index fell 17 points.
Looking technically at the price movements of the GBP/JPY pair, the pair is moving in a consolidation direction, rebounding this morning from the upper limit of that consolidation movement around the 186.100 levels, coinciding with the decline in purchasing power on the momentum indicators for a 4-hour interval, and now touching the 20-period moving averages. 50 days, so it is likely that the pair will continue to decline, targeting the support levels around 183.95, and then in the event of a break, we will target the 180.60 yen levels.
