USDJPY Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the USD strengthened 1.53% against the JPY and closed at 104.21.
The US Dollar rose after the Federal Reserve announced that it would slow the rate of its monetary stimulus by $10 billion starting in January 2014. Meanwhile, the US Dollar was further buoyed after data indicated that the US housing starts surged to their highest level in nearly six years and the number of building permits issues in the US fell less-than-expected in November, remaining near the highest level since January 2008.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 103.98, with the USD trading 0.22% lower from yesterday’s close.
This morning, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed that Japan’s all industry activity declined for the first time in four months in October. The all industry activity index fell 0.2% (MoM) in October following a 0.5% increase in September. Analysts expected the index to drop 0.3%. Separately, the Conference Board Leading Economic Index for Japan improved to 109.8 in October from a revised 109.1 in the previous month. Additionally, the coincident index jumped to 110.4 in October, from a revised level of 108.6 in the preceding month.
The pair is expected to find support at 103.01, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 102.03. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 104.67, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 105.36.
Investors are expected to turn their attention to the Bank of Japan (BoJ)’s monetary policy meeting scheduled tomorrow.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
