• Russia/Ukraine headlines dominate trading session, while safe-haven peers move ahead

• Weekly Outlook GBP/JPY: It faces resistance at 158.00 from a weekly chart.

• GBP/JPY Daily Perspective: Neutral-upwards 155.30 or otherwise neutral

GBP/JPY is expected to close the North American session flat. The GBP/JPY trades at 155.60 at press time as the weekend draws near.

The week's story will continue unchanged with Friday's session. Newswires are dominated by geopolitical headlines from the Russia/Ukraine crises. However, macroeconomic data and central bank speaking took a back seat as tensions in Eastern Europe emerged. The market sentiment was affected, and it remained sour through the weekend. These factors helped safe-havens like the Japanese yen and the US dollars.

GBP/JPY Forecast: Technical outlook

Weekly Chart

GBP/JPY has a neutral bias, as this week's inability to set a new weekly high created a "bearish–harami" chart pattern. Also known as an inside bar or inside bar, it suggests that the GBP/JPY targets downwards.

A triple-top formation is also possible, as the GBP/JPY failed to test the 158.00 mark, opening the doors for two retracements. The GBP/JPY dropped to 148.97 in the first and 152.90 in the second.

The downward movement would be accelerated if the weekly close is below 155.00. The GBP/JPY support level would be 152.90 once it is achieved. Breach of this would expose 148.97. Then comes the 100-week moving mean (WMA), at 145.31.

Daily chart

GBP/JPY shows the pair as neutral. It is tilted upwards despite not breaking the five-month-old trendline. This trendline was drawn from October tops which pass around 157.50 followed by a pullback towards 155.00. The bias remained unchanged as the GBP/JPY posted a new weekly high on Friday.

The GBP/JPY's first resistance would be 157.00. A decisive break would expose the 157.50. This is followed by a January 5, daily high at 55.776 and a October 2021 cycle high at 85.21.