USDJPY Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the USD weakened 2.13% against the JPY and closed at 99.03, after the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s June policy meeting revealed that several Fed officials wanted to ensure a solid employment recovery before a policy scale back.
In Japan, the consumer confidence index declined to a reading of 44.3 in June, from a reading of 45.7 reported in the previous month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 98.72, with the USD trading 0.32% lower from yesterday’s close.
This morning, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) left its benchmark interest rate steady at 0.1% in July, in line with market expectations and maintained its asset purchase program.Meanwhile, in its revised assessment, the central bank has indicated that the nation is starting to moderately recover. However, it has cut its inflation and economic forecasts for the current fiscal year from its April 2013 projections.
Separately, core machine orders in Japan surged 10.5% (MoM) in May, much higher than the expected 1.9% rise and compared to an 8.8% drop reported in April.
The pair is expected to find support at 97.60, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 96.49. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 100.47, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 102.22.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
