The Japanese yen traded in range for some time and eventually made a move higher. The meeting minutes from the BOJ as well as their outlook are the main events. Here is an outlook on the major events moving the yen and an updated technical analysis for USD/JPY.
The Bank of Japan left its monetary policy unchanged and remained upbeat regarding the economy. This comes despite a weaker than expected growth in industrial output and a worrying manufacturing PMI. In the US, the excellent Non-Farm Payrolls report showed a gain of 288K jobs countering a poor GDP growth figure for Q1.
[do action=”autoupdate” tag=”USDJPYUpdate”/]USD/JPY graph with support and resistance lines on it. Click to enlarge:
- Markit Services PMI: Tuesday, 23:15. In March, Japan’s services sector still pointed to growth, with 52.2. We may get a change in April following the weak manufacturing PMI.
- Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes: Tuesday, 23:50. The meeting minutes are not from the latest meeting, but they still provide insight and perhaps hints to the next moves. Is the current stimulus sufficient?
- Coincident Index: Friday, 5:00. This figure has been on the rise for quite some time, but ticked lower last month to 114.9 points. The preliminary number for March is likely to show stability now.
- Leading Indicators: Friday, 5:00. This composite indicator, based on 11 separate ones, disappointed by falling sharply to 108.5%, erasing steady gains seen beforehand. In March, a small recovery is likely.
* All times are GMT
USD/JPY Technical Analysis
Dollar/yen started the week in the usual 102-102.74 range mentioned last week. An attempt to break higher late in the week did not fully materialize.
Technical lines from top to bottom
The top line is the peak seen in the turn of the year: 105.44. This was challenged several times. Below, 104.80 capped the pair during January.
104.10, the high of April 2014 is currently a minor line, but should be watched. Below, 103.77 provided support for the pair in January and served as a clear separator of ranges.
102.74 was a stubborn peak during February and is the top line of the current trading range. 102.00 is a round number that supported the pair several times and is the botom of the range.
101.20 provided strong support for the pair during March 2014 and is the low line of support. 100.75 prevented the pair from falling lower during February and is the last backstop before the round number of 100.
100 is not just a round number but also worked as resistance several times in the past.
Moderate uptrend support
We can observe a moderate uptrend support line (thick black line) accompanying the pair since early March.
I remain bullish on USD/JPY
While the BOJ is not keen on more stimulus, the strength in the US as demonstrated this week certainly supports the pair. There is room for more steady gains.
More:
- USD/JPY: The Battle of Monetary Policy Biases
- Forex Analysis: USD/JPY Attempts Advance from Support Line
Further reading:
- For a broad view of all the week’s major events worldwide, read the USD outlook.
- For EUR/USD, check out the Euro to Dollar forecast.
- For GBP/USD (cable), look into the British Pound forecast.
- For the Australian dollar (Aussie), check out the AUD to USD forecast.
- For USD/CAD (loonie), check out the Canadian dollar forecast.
- For the kiwi, see the NZDUSD forecast.
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