The GBP/JPY pair hit a new multi-year high of 212.30 during the Asian trading session on Monday. The pair is trading strongly as the Japanese Yen (JPY) underperformed its counterparts, following reports from Reuters that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi may call an early snap election.
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 weakest against the Swiss franc.
| US dollars | euro | GBP | JPY | Canadian | Australian dollar | New Zealand dollar | Swiss franc | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US dollars | -0.25% | -0.17% | 0.13% | -0.14% | -0.10% | -0.23% | -0.29% | |
| euro | 0.25% | 0.09% | 0.35% | 0.11% | 0.15% | 0.03% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | 0.17% | -0.09% | 0.28% | 0.03% | 0.07% | -0.06% | -0.12% | |
| JPY | -0.13% | -0.35% | -0.28% | -0.25% | -0.22% | -0.34% | -0.40% | |
| Canadian | 0.14% | -0.11% | -0.03% | 0.25% | 0.04% | -0.09% | -0.15% | |
| Australian dollar | 0.10% | -0.15% | -0.07% | 0.22% | -0.04% | -0.12% | -0.19% | |
| New Zealand dollar | 0.23% | -0.03% | 0.06% | 0.34% | 0.09% | 0.12% | -0.06% | |
| Swiss franc | 0.29% | 0.04% | 0.12% | 0.40% | 0.15% | 0.19% | 0.06% |
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).
Reports also showed that government sources indicated that Japanese Prime Minister Takaishi is considering holding early elections on February 8 or 15.
Hopes for early elections in Japan arose after Japan Innovation Party leader Hirofumi Yoshimura told public broadcaster NHK that he met with Prime Minister Takaishi on Friday and felt that her view on the timing of the election had moved to a new stage.
Political concerns in Japan arose at a time when investors were uncertain about the timeframe for another interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan.
Meanwhile, the British pound is trading broadly flat ahead of UK employment data for the three months to November, due on Tuesday. Investors will pay close attention to UK labor market data for new signals on the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy outlook.
In 2025, UK labor market concerns will remain high as companies avoid aggressive hiring to offset the impact of higher employer contributions to social security schemes.
Frequently asked questions about the Japanese Yen
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the most widely traded currencies in the world. Their value is determined broadly by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the spread between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the powers of the Bank of Japan is to control the currency, so its movements are key to the yen. The Bank of Japan has intervened directly in currency markets on occasion, generally to devalue the yen, although it often refrains from doing so due to the political concerns of its major trading partners. The Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the yen to depreciate against its major counterparts due to the growing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other major central banks. More recently, the gradual dismantling of this ultra-lenient policy has given the yen some support.
Over the past decade, the Bank of Japan’s ultra-loose monetary policy stance has led to widening policy divergence with other central banks, especially the US Federal Reserve. This supported the widening of the spread between the US and Japanese 10-year bonds, which favored the US dollar against the Japanese yen. The Bank of Japan’s decision in 2024 to gradually abandon ultra-loose policy, along with interest rate cuts at other major central banks, are narrowing this spread.
The Japanese yen is often viewed as a safe investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money into the Japanese currency because of its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the value of the yen against other currencies that are considered riskier to invest in.
