• The British pound rallied up to 150-pips on Thursday’s BoE meeting.
• A mixed market mood was no excuse for the GBP to surge vs. the JPY.
• GBP/JPY is upward biased, as bulls get a breather on their way to 157.00.

On Thursday, the British pound surges courtesy of a Bank of England (BoE) rate hike, increasing to 0.50% their interest rates for the first time since 2008. At the time of writing, the GBP/JPY is trading at 156.39.

The market mood is downbeat, portrayed by US equities recording losses. Meantime, in the FX complex, safe-haven peers, like the JPY and the greenback, record losses against riskier ones, led by the GBP and the antipodeans.

GBP/JPY Price Forecast: Technical outlook

The GBP/JPY remained subdued in the overnight session, meandering around the central daily pivot around 155.19, ahead of the BoE monetary policy decision. Once the news crossed the wired, the GBP/JPY rose 120-pips towards the January 18 daily high, though it fell short 20-pips at 156.50, to retrace later to the R3 daily pivot at 156.21 as BoE’s Chief Andrew Bailey eased the monetary policy decision tone.

That said, the GBP/JPT, as shown by the daily moving averages (DMAs) residing below the spot prices, is upward biased. As the uptrend accelerates, the GBP/JPY would face resistance on the January 18 daily high at 156.90. A breach of the latter would expose a five-month-old downslope trendline lying in the 157.35-55 range. An upside break above would expose the October 20 cycle high at 158.21.