GBP/JPY: Daily Range, Character and Trading Hours

GBP/JPY moves a median of 128 pips per day. Half of all days fall between 83 and 197 pips, and the widest day in our sample reached 606. Traders call it the dragon. Every figure below comes from 518 daily bars covering 2024-07-29 to 2026-07-30.

GBP/JPY character: how the pair behaves

The pair with the widest daily range among the crosses covered here. Sterling's own volatility compounds with the yen's risk sensitivity, and because there is little direct liquidity between the two currencies, moves extend further than either leg suggests.

Measured daily range

• Median daily range: 128 pips
• Typical band (middle 80% of days): 83–197 pips
• Widest single day in sample: 606 pips
• Median close-to-close change: 54 pips; the largest 20% of days exceed 119
• Range of the pair over the whole period: 183.58–219.39, a span of 3580 pips

The gap between the median range and the widest day is the number worth remembering. A stop sized for a typical day is not a stop sized for the tail, and the tail is where accounts are damaged.

When it trades

Asian and European hours both matter, and the largest moves usually arrive with European risk sentiment.

Who it suits

Not a beginner's instrument. Its range is not an opportunity multiplier but a risk multiplier — the same stop distance in pips represents a far smaller cushion here.

Sizing a position on GBP/JPY

This is where sizing errors are punished hardest. The same stop in pips represents a far smaller cushion here than on any major, and the widest days dwarf the median. If you size this pair the way you size EUR/USD, one bad session will do disproportionate damage.

Data: 518 daily bars, 1 incomplete bars excluded. The sample is available for download and the method is described in how we run backtests. What actually moves this pair is covered separately in what drives GBP/JPY.

This material is educational and is not individual investment advice. Trading forex carries the risk of losing capital.