Here is something to think about. If one decides to hold a longer term position short in this pair, because they believe it will be going down for a while, the interest can be costly at $26.50 per
standard lot at IBFX (prices vary at different brokers, but the concept is the same)
I generally will sell GBPUSD and sell USDJPY instead. this is the same thing provided you get the lot ratio correct, but you collect .30 from the GBPUSD and only pay $14.30 for the USDJPY, which means you get a savings of over $12.00 in interest each day per standard lot.
Of course you must pay for the extra spread, but GBPJPY is usually from 4 to 10 pips and USDJPY is from 2 to 4 pips and GBPUSD is from 2 to 4 pips, so even with two spreads, the total spread is about the same.
standard lot at IBFX (prices vary at different brokers, but the concept is the same)
I generally will sell GBPUSD and sell USDJPY instead. this is the same thing provided you get the lot ratio correct, but you collect .30 from the GBPUSD and only pay $14.30 for the USDJPY, which means you get a savings of over $12.00 in interest each day per standard lot.
Of course you must pay for the extra spread, but GBPJPY is usually from 4 to 10 pips and USDJPY is from 2 to 4 pips and GBPUSD is from 2 to 4 pips, so even with two spreads, the total spread is about the same.