USD/JPY: Unfazed by the DXY rally, trades in range below 112 ahead of US data

• US Dollar Index advances to fresh 22-month high above 98.
• Wall Street looks to open the day flat.
• BoJ leaves monetary policy unchanged as expected.

After posting its highest daily close of 2019 at 112.10 on Wednesday, the USD/JPY pair struggled to preserve its bullish momentum and erased yesterday’s gains. As of writing, the pair was trading at 111.88, losing 0.26% on a daily basis.

Earlier today, the Bank of Japan announced that it didn’t make any changes to its monetary policy settings as expected and kept rates steady at -10bps while maintaining 10yr JGB yield target at 0.00% while modifying its forward guidance. Speaking at the press conference, Governor Kuroda said they wanted to make their stance clear on persistent easing and reiterated that the bank would adjust its policy as needed to maintain the momentum towards 2% inflation target. Nevertheless, the JPY largely ignored these comments and the pair continued to consolidate yesterday’s upsurge.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index, which took advantage of the selling pressure surrounding the major European currencies and rose to its highest level since May 2017, clings to its recent gains and limits the pair’s downside. Later in the session, weekly jobless claims and durable goods orders from the U.S. will be looked upon for fresh impetus.  

In the early Asian session on Friday, unemployment rate, Tokyo CPI,   industrial production, and retail trade data will be featured in the Japanese economic docket.

Key technical levels

The pair could face the initial resistance at 112 (psychological level) ahead of 112.40 (Dec. 20, 2018, high/Apr. 24 high) and 113.25 (Dec. 5 high). On the downside, supports could be seen at 111.75  (20-DMA/daily low), 111.50 (200-DMA) and 111 (Apr. 9 low).