GBP/JPY rebounds over 100 pips from one-week low, climbs back closer to 191.00 mark

• GBP/JPY stages a solid intraday recovery from over a one-week trough touched earlier this Monday.
• A combination of factors weighs on the JPY and lends support to the cross amid a modest GBP uptick.
• The divergent BoJ-BoE policy expectations warrant caution before placing aggressive bullish bets.

The GBP/JPY cross attracts some dip-buyers in the vicinity of mid-189.00s, or a one-week low and for now, seems to have stalled its retracement slide from a nearly two-month peak touched on Friday. The move up lifts spot prices to the 191.00 neighborhood, back closer to the daily peak during the early European session, though the fundamental backdrop warrants some caution for bullish traders. 

The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakens in reaction to comments from Japan's incoming Prime Minister (PM) Shigeru Ishiba, saying that the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) monetary policy must remain accommodative to underpin a fragile economic recovery. This, along with news that the new PM is planning a general election for October 27 and mixed Japanese economic data, continues to undermine the JPY and lends support to the GBP/JPY cross. 

Meanwhile, the British Pound (GBP) draws support from a subdued US Dollar (USD) demand and expectations that the Bank of England's (BoE) rate-cutting cycle is likely to be slower than in the US. This turns out to be another factor acting as a tailwind for the GBP/JPY cross. That said, the growing market conviction that the BoJ will hike interest rates again by the end of this year should help limit any meaningful JPY losses.

Apart from this, the risk of a further escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East should benefit the safe-haven JPY and contribute to capping the GBP/JPY cross. Israel expanded its confrontation with Iran's allies and launched aggressive aerial assaults on Sunday against Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon. This, in turn, fuels concerns that the fighting could spin out of control and trigger an all-out war in the region.

From a technical perspective, the 50-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) crossed below the very important 200-day SMA earlier this month, forming a bearish 'Death Cross' on the daily chart. This further makes it prudent to wait for strong follow-through buying before positioning for the resumption of the recent goodish recovery from the monthly low in the absence of any relevant market-moving economic releases on Monday.