The Tankan Manufacturing Index is major economic indicator in Japan. USD/JPY is climbing slowly to the magical 100 mark. Will this release push it over the top? Update April 2011: for the latest on this important Japanese indicator, see the Tankan Manufacturing Index page on Forex Crunch. USD/JPY is trading sideways for a few weeks. On March 4th, USD/JPY reached the peak of 99.65. It was very close to adding a digit, but this psychological resistance line stood firm. Getting above 100 was hard. Since then, it has been getting close there again and again. This afternoon, it has topped 99 and peaked at 99.36. The US dollar is weakening across the board on disappointing data: Chicago PMI fell to 31.4, worse than 34.3 that was expected. CB Consumer Confidence, the major American figure for today, printed a disappointing 26 points, less than 27.8 that was expected, and a very low figure in general. All these bad figures led to weakness for the greenback. And what happens when the dolalr weakens? Well, the Japanase Yen weakens even more. This Dollar-Yen correlation happened yesterday in the other direction – the dollar strengthened, and the Yen strengthened even more. The Tankan Manufacturing Index is a quarterly survey of 1200 leading businesses in the land of the rising sun. It is a highly regarded economic indicator. Tankan Manufacturing Index is expected to be negative, at -55. This is much worse than -24 last quarter. In the quarter before it, the index stood on -3. There’s a fast deterioration in this index, which goes hand in hand with the tumbling Japanese economy, as reflected in the Prelim Industrial Production figures. With USD/JPY being so close to 100, the Tankan Manufacturing Index in Japan can take it over the top. If it shows a figure worse than -55 or very close to it, the Yen can tumble and make a strong move. Many stop losses are positioned around the magical 100 number. Will USD/JPY get another digit? We’ll see quite soon… Yohay Elam Yohay Elam Yohay Elam: Founder, Writer and Editor I have been into forex trading for over 5 years, and I share the experience that I have and the knowledge that I've accumulated. After taking a short course about forex. Like many forex traders, I've earned a significant share of my knowledge the hard way. Macroeconomics, the impact of news on the ever-moving currency markets and trading psychology have always fascinated me. Before founding Forex Crunch, I've worked as a programmer in various hi-tech companies. I have a B. Sc. in Computer Science from Ben Gurion University. Given this background, forex software has a relatively bigger share in the posts. Yohay's Google Profile View All Post By Yohay Elam Opinions share Read Next Forex Daily Outlook – April 1st 2009 Yohay Elam 14 years The Tankan Manufacturing Index is major economic indicator in Japan. USD/JPY is climbing slowly to the magical 100 mark. Will this release push it over the top? Update April 2011: for the latest on this important Japanese indicator, see the Tankan Manufacturing Index page on Forex Crunch. USD/JPY is trading sideways for a few weeks. On March 4th, USD/JPY reached the peak of 99.65. It was very close to adding a digit, but this psychological resistance line stood firm. Getting above 100 was hard. Since then, it has been getting close there again and again. This afternoon, it has topped… Regulated Forex Brokers All Brokers Sponsored Brokers Broker Benefits Min Deposit Score Visit Broker 1 $100T&Cs Apply 0% Commission and No stamp DutyRegulated by US,UK & International StockCopy Successfull Traders 9.8 Visit Site FreeBets Reviews$100Your capital is at risk. 2 T&Cs Apply 9.8 Visit Site FreeBets Reviews$100Your capital is at risk. 3 Recommended Broker $100T&Cs Apply No deposit or withdrawal feesTrade major forex pairs such as EUR/USD with leverage up to 30:1 and tight spreads of 0.9 pips Low $100 minimum deposit to open a trading account 9 Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk. 4 T&Cs Apply Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk. 5 Recommended Broker $0T&Cs Apply Trade gold, silver, and platinum directly against major currenciesUp to 1:500 leverage for forex trading24/5 customer service by phone and email 9 Visit Site FreeBets ReviewsYour capital is at risk.