Sterling opened the year in a moderate uptrend against the Japanese yen, despite the overall market calm in the new year, but still capped below the top of the range of the last two weeks, at the 211.50 area.
The Japanese yen falls on Friday amid moderate market sentiment, with trading volumes falling as markets in China and Japan remain closed for New Year celebrations.
In the UK, the final release of the S&P Manufacturing PMI is expected to confirm that sector activity accelerated to 51.2 in December from 50.2 in November. However, this release will have a limited impact on the pound, unless there is a significant revision to initial estimates.
Technical Analysis: Intraday charts are showing bearish divergence
The British pound/Japanese yen pair is trading at 211.17, after a failed attempt to breach the 211.50 area earlier today. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) stands at 57.50, highlighting a modest bullish tone, although bearish divergence with price action indicates the possibility of a bearish reversal.
Immediate support remains at the area between trend line resistance, around 210.15, and the December 24 low, at 210.05. A clear break of these levels is likely to increase pressure towards the mid-December lows, around 208.90.
Conversely, the bulls need to break the long-term highs at 211.59 (Dec 22 high). Above here, the 127.2% Fibonacci extension of the December 15-22 high, at 212.75, and the 161.8% extension of the same cycle, at 214.38, appear as next potential targets.
(Technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an artificial intelligence tool)
Japanese yen price today
The table below shows how much the Japanese Yen (JPY) has changed against the major currencies listed today. The Japanese yen was the strongest against the US dollar.
| US dollars | euro | GBP | JPY | Canadian | Australian dollar | New Zealand dollar | Swiss franc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US dollars | -0.01% | 0.04% | 0.00% | -0.17% | -0.35% | -0.20% | -0.02% | |
| euro | 0.01% | -0.09% | 0.04% | -0.16% | -0.40% | -0.19% | -0.00% | |
| GBP | -0.04% | 0.09% | 0.11% | -0.10% | -0.32% | -0.10% | 0.09% | |
| JPY | 0.00% | -0.04% | -0.11% | -0.17% | -0.48% | -0.27% | -0.01% | |
| Canadian | 0.17% | 0.16% | 0.10% | 0.17% | -0.22% | -0.06% | 0.16% | |
| Australian dollar | 0.35% | 0.40% | 0.32% | 0.48% | 0.22% | 0.21% | 0.40% | |
| New Zealand dollar | 0.20% | 0.19% | 0.10% | 0.27% | 0.06% | -0.21% | 0.19% | |
| Swiss franc | 0.02% | 0.00% | -0.09% | 0.01% | -0.16% | -0.40% | -0.19% |
The heat map shows the percentage changes in major currencies versus each other. The base currency is chosen from the left column, while the counter currency is chosen from the top row. For example, if you select the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent the Japanese Yen (base)/US Dollar (quote).
