- USD/JPY stays calm above 109.00 despite renewed USD strength.
- Risk-averse market environment helps JPY find demand in early American session.
- Real GDP in US expanded by 4.3% in fourth quarter.
The USD/JPY gathered bullish momentum during the first half of the day and advanced to a daily high of 109.17. However, the pair seems to be struggling to push higher in the early American session and was last seen gaining 0.3% on the day at 109.05.
USD/JPY moves sideways as market mood sours
The risk-averse market environment, as reflected by heavy losses witnessed in major European equity indexes and the US stock index futures, is helping the JPY find demand and stay resilient against its major rivals.
On the other hand, the US Dollar Index climbed to its highest level in four months at 92.75 following the upbeat US data releases and allowed USD/JPY to stay in the positive territory.
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the real GDP grew at an annual rate of 4.3% in the fourth quarter. This reading came in higher than the market expectation and the previous estimate of 4.1%. Additionally, the weekly report published by the US Department of Labor revealed that Initial Jobless Claims dropped to 684,000, the lowest reading since the pandemic started.
There won’t be any other macroeconomic data releases featured in the US economic docket in the remainder of the day but New York Federal Reserve President John Williams and Federal Reserve’s Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will be delivering speeches.
Technical levels to watch for
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