Pound Plunges on Suspected Yen Intervention

The British Pound plummeted against the Japanese Yen on Thursday, losing around 2.4% to trade near 213.20 in the GBP/JPY cross.

This sudden decline came despite the Bank of England's (BoE) monetary policy announcement, which was widely expected to be a hawkish hold as six policymakers voted to maintain rates and three supported a 25-basis-point increase to 4.00%.

The BoE acknowledged that UK inflation declined to 2.6% in June but warned that higher energy prices could push inflation back up later this year, with policymakers indicating that the risks surrounding the inflation outlook remain tilted to the upside.

The sharp movement in the Japanese Yen sparked speculation that Japan's Ministry of Finance had instructed the Bank of Japan to purchase Yen, although the operation has not yet been officially confirmed.