• GBP/JPY gets comfortable near 198.00 as Guppy traders wait for a reason to move.
• BoJ and BoE rate calls due this week, UK rate cut expected.
• JPY traders on the lookout for signs of a shift from BoJ, confirmation of “Yenterventions”.

GBP/JPY is in the process of drawing a second straight spinning top daily candle on Monday as Guppy traders await signals to move in either direction with rate decisions from both the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Bank of England (BoE) on the books for this week.

The BoE is broadly expected to deliver a quarter-point rate trim later this week on Thursday, but odds are still up in the air with the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) forecast to vote 5–to-4 in favor of a 25 bps rate cut. At the BoE’s previous rate meeting, the MPC voted 7-to-2 in favor of keeping rate cuts on hold.

The BoJ is also due for a rate call this week and slated for the early Wednesday market session, but markets have broadly lower expectations for the Japanese central bank. The BoJ remains bound and determined to keep Japanese interest rates at or near zero until they figure out a way to spark healthy, long-run inflation near 2%, and steadily declining Japanese inflation figures are keeping rate hikes at bay even as headline inflation figures continue to run above the 2% target.