GBP/JPY hits 150.00 as risk appetite lunges forward

• Little news and surging risk appetite is bolstering the Pound and driving the Yen lower.
• Trade war fears have receded for now, but markets remain exposed to firm downside swings as traders are tightly wound this week.

The Sterling is holding ground at the 150.00 handle heading into the Asia trading session following a blustery Monday.

The GBP/JPY surged to clear over 200 pips in Monday's risk-on mood, and the pair is currently holding on the high side waiting for the next session to kick off. Markets have decidedly cooled off on the trade war fears as both the US and China appear to be willing to negotiate after several weeks of bluster and saber-rattling, and the Yen is fading as liquidity makes its way out of the safe haven and into riskier assets.

Both the Sterling and the Yen are under-represented in the macro calendar today, and the pair will continue to move with the overall market sentiment, though the Tokyo markets will no doubt see further details about the unresolved government sale scandal that rocked the Japanese Parliament recently. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been accused of orchestrating a coverup involving the sale of government land to a school operator with personal ties to the Prime Minister, and the Japanese Diet will be hearing testimony from people involved with the scandal throughout the week.

GBP/JPY Technicals

Monday's surge in the pair brought the GBP/JPY back over the 200-day SMA currently holding at 148.85 and with the calendar free of any high-impact news, the pair is free to continue chopping through resistance on improving risk appetite, with the last swing high at 150.20 and February's swing high of 150.95 the only immediate resistance levels, though the extreme swings in the pair has left current support thin at mid-March's swing high of 149.35 and mid-February's swing low at the 148.00 major level.