Pound to Yen Exchange Rate Today: GBP/JPY Falls as UK House Growth Cools and BoE Rates Stagnate

December 4, 2014 - Written by David Woodsmith

STORY LINK Pound to Yen Exchange Rate Today: GBP/JPY Falls as UK House Growth Cools and BoE Rates Stagnate

The Pound softened against the Japanese Yen as UK House Price growth softened for the fourth consecutive month

In the three months through November, the Halifax House Price report measured 8.3% growth, down from the previous 8.8%. Economist Martin Ellis stated:

‘Receding buyer interest combined with a revival in private housing completions has brought supply and demand into better balance. [Halifax forecasts] further moderation in house price growth over the next year.’ In addition, UK Mortgage Approvals have shrunk to their lowest level in the past year.

The Pound to Japanese Yen exchange rate converts -0.15 per cent lower at 1 GBP is 187.81039 JPY.
The Euro to Japanese Yen exchange rate converts +0.49 per cent higher at 1 EUR is 148.32339 JPY.
The US Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate converts -0.02 per cent lower at 1 USD is 119.83550 JPY.
The Canadian Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate converts -0.21 per cent lower at 1 CAD is 105.23841 JPY.
The Hong Kong Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate is +0.01 pct higher with a conversion rate of 1 HKD equals 15.46005 JPY.

Yen Exchange Rate Today - JPY Sinks vs Majors

Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen has been struggling against other majors, sinking to seven-year lows against the US Dollar.

With political uncertainty shrouding Japan since the nation entered recession, investor sentiment in the safe-haven asset has waned.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a snap election to give citizens the opportunity to demonstrate their confidence in him as a leader and support of Abenomics, or choose another course.

However, recent polls suggest that the decision to offer a snap election has seen confidence in the current PM surge. University director Jeff Kingston commented: ‘A landslide victory will put wind in his sails and give him and the LDP two additional years to get on with their reform agenda. He will take it as vindication of this surprise decision to call a snap election and claim a mandate for enacting his entire agenda.’

However, Bank of Japan board member Takehiro Sato has suggested that inflation in the Japanese economy may stall into mid 2015. Sato believes that several months of soft inflation figures don’t warrant any monetary easing. Sato stated: ‘It’s inappropriate to tie monetary policy decisions too much to monthly consumer price moves.’

In the UK, the Bank of England (BoE) decided to keep interest rates at the current 0.50% benchmark, quelling all leftover hope of an interest rate hike before Christmas. The central bank has been a major source of Pound movement as any hawkish discussion on borrowing costs cause a surge in investor sentiment in the currency. The Bank of England inflation report will be released on Friday—another development that could see Sterling fluctuations. After the BoE recently announced it expects inflation to dip below 1.0% in the next six months, the forecast could be less positive than previously expected.

Japan will release its Coincident Index on Friday. The gauge measures the current economic situation and is expected to rise from 109.8 to 110. Conversely, the Leading Index (which uses a composite of 12 measures) is expected to drop from 105.6 to 104.1.

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