GBP/JPY surges to 146.00 neighborhood on hawkish BoE vote split

   •  BoE maintains status quo and leaves interest rates/asset purchase facility unchanged.
   •  Hawkish MPC vote split revives August rate hike prospects and lifts the British Pound. 

The GBP/JPY cross recovered early lost ground and surged to fresh session tops, closer to the 146.00 handle post-BoE announcement.

As was widely expected, the UK central bank decided to maintain status quo and leave interest rates/asset purchase facility unchanged. However, a hawkish vote count (6-3) revived hope for an imminent rate hike in August and provided a goodish lift to the British Pound.

Meanwhile, reviving safe-haven demand, amid renewed political jitters from Italy, continued underpinning the Japanese Yen and but did little to hinder the pair’s sharp intraday rebound of over 130-pips. 

Technical levels to watch

A follow-through momentum beyond the 146.00 handle has the potential to continue lifting the pair further towards its next resistance near the 146.60-65 horizontal zone.
 
On the flip side, any meaningful retracement now seems to find immediate support near the 145.00 handle, below which the pair is likely to head back towards challenging intraday lows support near mid-144.00s.