GBP/JPY continues to grind higher, sets fresh 16-year peak

• GBP/JPY gained 0.72% on Wednesday as Yen continues to plummet.
• Thin data leaves central bank talkers as the driver of market sentiment.
• BoE remains captive to inflation data looking forward.

GBP/JPY continues to grind out fresh 16-year highs in unrelenting Yen pressure, and the Guppy found a new peak above 207.80 on Wednesday. A lack of notable data from Japan leaves the Yen at the bottom of a very deep rate differential hole, and a bounce in market hopes for a rate cut from the Bank of England (BoE) gave the Pound Sterling a leg up across the board.

Despite cautionary statements from two BoE policymakers on Wednesday, the warning tones weren’t cautious enough, and markets bolstered the GBP on expectations of a BoE rate cut in August. UK inflation has made plenty of progress since peaking in the double digits, price growth remains a key stumbling block for the UK’s central bank.

Coming up on Thursday, UK Industrial and Manufacturing Production figures for May will either help or hinder rate cut hopes. MoM Industrial Production is expected to rebound to 0.2% from the previous -0.9% contraction, while Manufacturing Production is forecast to recover to 0.4% from the previous -1.4% decline.

Read more from BoE:
BoE's Mann: We need to see sustained slower service inflation
BoE's Pill: Open question whether time for cutting rates is now upon us

GBP/JPY technical outlook

The Guppy continues to break into fresh highs on the charts, shattering any technical resistance before it even gets the chance to finish forming. The pair is already on pace to chalk in another firmly green weekly candle, and GBP/JPY has seen a week-on-week gain for all but one of the last nine consecutive trading weeks.

GBP/JPY hourly chart

GBP/JPY daily chart