GBP/JPY drops to fresh 5-month lows, further below mid-132.00s

• GBP/JPY remained under intense selling pressure for the second straight session on Thursday.
• The global rush to safety continues to benefit the JPY and kept exerting pressure on the cross.
• The UK government’s stimulus package failed to impress the GBP bulls or extend any support.

The GBP/JPY cross maintained its heavily offered tone through the early European session and was last seen trading near five-month lows, below mid-132.00s.

The cross added to the previous day's heavy losses and remained under some intense selling pressure for the second consecutive session on Thursday amid a combination of negative factors.

The prevailing risk-off mood, as depicted by a sea of red across the global equity markets amid mounting fears over the deadly coronavirus, continued benefitting the Japanese yen's safe-haven status.

The ongoing slide to the lowest level since October 10 was further fueled by some selling around the British pound, which failed to gain any respite from the UK government's relief package.

It is worth recalling that the UK's new Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced a massive £30 billion stimulus, which included £5 billion emergency fund for the National Health Service.

This came after the Bank of England launched a special funding facility worth £100 to small and medium-sized businesses to help cope with the outbreak’s fallout, albeit did little to impress bulls.

It will now be interesting to see if the cross is able to find any buying interest at lower levels or the current slide marks a fresh bearish break, setting the stage for a further near-term depreciating move.

Technical levels to watch