USDJPY Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, USD weakened 0.30% against the JPY and closed at 81.06.
Today morning, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to take additional easing steps by ramping up its purchases of government bonds and risk assets by a net ¥5 trillion as part of its long-running bid to end deflation, while leaving its policy interest rate in the current target range of 0% to 0.1%.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 80.93, with the USD trading 0.17% lower from yesterday’s close.
This morning, in Japan, on a year-on-year basis, the core consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.2% in March, following a 0.1% increase recorded in February. Market had expected the index to rise 0.1% (YoY) in March. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the unemployment rate in Japan stood at 4.5% in March, in line with market estimates and unchanged compared to a previous month’s rate.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, industrial production in Japan rose 1.0% in March, compared to a 1.6% contraction recorded in February. Market had expected industrial production to increase 2.3% MoM in March.
On an annual basis, retail sales in Japan rose 10.3% to ¥12.432 trillion in March, following a 3.5% gain recorded in February. Market had expected retail sales to increase 10.0% YoY in March. However, on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the retail sales fell 1.2% in March, compared to a 2.0% increase recorded in February. Market had expected retail sales to decline 0.5% MoM in March.
The pair is expected to find support at 80.62, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 80.31. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 81.28, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 81.63.
The currency pair is showing convergence with its 20 Hr moving average and is trading below its 50 Hr moving average.
