{"id":30663,"date":"2026-03-13T16:58:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/30663\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:58:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:58:21","slug":"following-weaker-uk-economic-figures-sterling-slides-against-the-yen-with-gbp-jpy-near-211-50-erasing-week-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/30663\/","title":{"rendered":"Following weaker UK economic figures, sterling slides against the yen, with GBP\/JPY near 211.50, erasing week gains"},"content":{"rendered":"Sterling fell against the Yen on Friday after weaker UK data. GBP\/JPY traded near 211.50, giving back all gains from earlier in the week.\n\nUK GDP was flat in January on a monthly basis. This missed the 0.1% rise expected and slowed from 0.2% growth in December.\n\n

Uk Data Disappoints Markets<\/h3>\nIndustrial Production fell 0.1% month on month in January. This missed forecasts for a 0.2% rise after a -0.9% fall in December.\n\nManufacturing Production rose 0.1% month on month. It was below the 0.2% forecast after a -0.5% drop the month before.\n\nOil prices rose amid supply disruption through the Strait of Hormuz linked to the US\u2013Iran war. This increased inflation risks and added to pressure on energy importers.\n\nMarkets reduced expectations for Bank of England rate cuts. Pricing moved towards the chance of a rate rise by year-end.\n\n

Yen Sensitive To Energy And Policy<\/h3>\nJapan relies heavily on imported energy, with a large share of oil from the Middle East. USD\/JPY hovered near levels that previously led to official action.\n\nFinance Minister Satsuki Katayama said Japan is in close contact with US officials on FX moves. She said the government would take all possible measures in FX markets and noted that higher oil prices could affect households and daily life.\n\nGiven the fresh signs of a stalling UK economy, we should view the pound with increased caution. The flat GDP figure for January, when growth was expected, suggests the UK is struggling more than anticipated. This situation makes us consider buying put options on GBP\/JPY, positioning for a move lower toward the 210.00 level in the coming weeks.\n\nLooking back, we saw the UK economy struggle throughout 2025, posting full-year growth of just 0.6%, which adds weight to today’s weak data. This historical context of sluggish performance makes the current lack of momentum a serious concern for Sterling. It reinforces the idea that any strength in the pound is likely to be temporary and should be seen as an opportunity to initiate short positions.\n\nThe US-Iran conflict is a major factor, pushing Brent crude oil prices above $110 a barrel, a level not seen since the geopolitical tensions of mid-2024. This complicates things for the Bank of England, as higher energy costs will fuel inflation even as the economy weakens. This uncertainty will likely increase volatility, so traders might consider strangles to profit from a large price swing in either direction, though the bias remains to the downside for the pound.\n\nOn the other side of the trade, Japan’s reliance on imported oil makes the situation painful, but it forces the Bank of Japan to maintain its tightening stance. Remember, the BoJ already hiked rates twice in 2025 to combat persistent inflation, a trend that higher oil prices will only accelerate. This policy divergence with a potentially paralyzed Bank of England is fundamentally supportive of the Yen over the Pound.\n\nFinally, we must pay close attention to the warnings from Japan’s Finance Minister about currency intervention. With USD\/JPY hovering near the 160.00 mark\u2014a level that prompted direct market action in late 2024\u2014the threat of intervention to strengthen the yen is very real. This acts as another powerful catalyst that supports a lower GBP\/JPY exchange rate.\n\nCreate your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n

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Start trading now – Click here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sterling slid versus yen after flat UK GDP and weak output data; GBP\/JPY retreated near 211.50.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}