GBP/JPY stages a minor recovery to 157.00

After initially dropping to 156.34, the GBP/JPY pair has managed to stage some minor recovery from day's through and is currently holding its neck just above 157.00 mark. 

Recovery in last few hours was led by some long Yen unwinding and was further supported by better-than-expected UK services PMI. With a rise to 53.5 in May as compared to April's reading of 52.3, the PMI figure pointed to improving business activity in the services sector of the UK economy.

In the previous trading session, the GBP/JPY cross extended its slide for third consecutive day as support for the upcoming EU referendum seemed to lean towards the 'Leave' camp. 

Although the pair seems to stage a minor recovery, but 'Brexit' worries might continue to keep the British Pound suppressed and restrict any swift recovery for the GBP/JPY cross. In the meantime, traders will take cues from today's US monthly jobs report, which might fuel a risk-on/off trade and eventually trigger some volatility in the GBP/JPY cross.

Technical levels to watch

From current levels, 157.90-158.00 round figure mark seems to limit any immediate upside. However, a sustained trade above this immediate hurdle seems to assist the pair towards 158.70 intermediate horizontal resistance ahead of the key psychological mark resistance near 160.00 handle.

Meanwhile on the downside, weakness back below 156.50-30 area is likely to get extended towards 155.75-70 horizontal support, which if broken decisively might turn the pair vulnerable to continue drifting lower and drop below 155.00 handle to test 154.30-25 support area.