USDJPY Movement
On Friday, the USD weakened 0.88% against the JPY and closed at 99.24, as a soft employment data from the US spooked investors’ confidence.
In Japan, data showed that the nation’s coincident index rose to a reading of 106.4 during July, slightly less than analysts’ expectation for a rise to a level of 106.9 and following a reading of 105.5 registered in the previous month. Meanwhile, Japan’s leading economic index advanced to a reading of 107.8 in July, less than market expectation for a rise to 107.9 and compared to a level of 107.2 seen in the previous month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 99.68, with the USD trading 0.45% higher from Friday’s close. Earlier today, an official data showed that, on an annualized basis, the Japanese economy grew 3.8% during the second quarter, more than the market expectation for a growth of 3.7% and compared to a 2.6% growth seen in the previous quarter. Another report depicted that the nation’s trade balance on a BOP basis, registered a deficit of ¥943.3 billion in July, more than analysts’ expectation for a deficit of ¥862.4 billion and following a ¥139.2 billion deficit recorded in the earlier month.
The pair is expected to find support at 98.77, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 97.85. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 100.37, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 101.06.
Trading trends in the yen are expected to be determined by a data on Japan’s consumer confidence index and minutes of Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting, scheduled to release later during the day.
The currency pair is trading between its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
