GBP/JPY spikes through 139.00 after upbeat UK retail sales

Having refreshed session low near 138.40 region, the GBP/JPY cross reversed course and jumped back above the 139.00 handle following upbeat UK retail sales data.

Spot caught fresh bids after the latest UK retail sales figure broke weakening trend over the past two-months and posted a strong growth of 1.4% on a monthly basis. The reading surpassed even the most optimistic estimates and boosted the British Pound across the board.

However, a mildly cautious environment in wake of Wednesday’s Westminster terror attack, and ahead of a key vote on Trump’s healthcare bill, supported the Japanese Yen’s safe-haven appeal and collaborated towards restricting the pair’s up-move below session peak resistance near 139.25-30 region.

Technical levels to watch

A follow through recovery momentum back above the 139.00 handle is likely to confront resistance near 139.50 level, above which the cross is likely to make a fresh attempt towards reclaiming 140.00 mark and aim towards retesting 140.50-60 strong hurdle.

On the flip side, weakness back below 138.50-45 support now seems to find support near 137.75 region (yesterday's swing low),  below which the cross is likely to accelerate the downslide towards 137.00 round figure mark ahead of yearly lows support near 136.45 level.