British Pound attracts bids against Japanese Yen after UK Q2 GDP data

The British Pound (GBP) saw modest bids against the Japanese Yen (JPY) during European trading on Wednesday, following the UK's second-quarter GDP data release. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the economy expanded 0.4% quarter-on-quarter, slightly below forecasts of 0.6%. Annually, GDP growth remained robust at 1.2%, outpacing the 1.1% estimate and the previous 0.9% reading.

GDP growth in June was 0.3%, lower than the expected flatness. Manufacturing and industrial production figures also exceeded expectations, with manufacturing production climbing 0.5% and industrial production increasing 0.2%. Consequently, the British currency may be swayed by expectations of the Bank of England's (BoE) monetary policy stance.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen (JPY) fluctuates near sideways on the Tokyo market, awaiting guidance from Japan's Ministry of Finance (MoF) regarding potential U.S.-Japan joint intervention to stabilize the currency. Gold surged to the $4,400 mark per troy ounce amid persistent dollar weakness and Middle East tensions, while EUR/USD climbed to the upper 1.1500s since mid-June, driven by a stronger dollar retracement and BoJ intervention speculation.