USD/JPY frozen near 111.90 ahead of US housing data

• Yen little moved despite BOJ bond buying cut, better Japanese CPI.
• Markets await a range break out, US housing data unlikely to help.

The USDJPY pair extends its side-tend into the European session, wavering back and forth in a 10-pips extremely narrow range just below the 112 handle.

A tug of war between the bulls and bears continue tor the sixth straight session, despite some volatility witnessed a day before after the Yen hit fresh weekly lows at 111.76 against its American peer following the disappointing German and Eurozone PMIs induced broad risk-aversion.

The spot pulled back sharply from the weekly trough and reverted to the familiar ranges near the 112 level following upbeat US retail sales data release the lifted the US stocks alongside the greenback across its main competitors.

On the JPY-side of the equation, a minor uptick in the Japanese CPI figures combined with the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision to cut the purchases of the long duration JGBs failed to move a needle on the USD/JPY pair.

“Japan’s March month national consumer price index (CPI) (YoY) matched expectations of 0.5% increase versus 0.2% earlier while national CPI ex-fresh food, also known as national core CPI, ticked up from 0.7% forecast and prior to 0.8%. It should also be noted that national CPI ex-food and energy remained unchanged at 0.4%,” Anil Panchal, FXStreet’s Analyst noted.

Further, the spot holds steady ahead of the 10-day Golden Week holidays, in anticipation of huge JPY flows, as markets resort to repositioning heading into the shutdown. Looking ahead, the pair will continues its flat action amid holiday-thinned quiet trades and the US housing data is also likely to have little impact on the Yen pair, as markets await a strong catalyst for the 112.15-111.75 range break out.  

USD/JPY Technical Levels