For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT on Friday, the USD strengthened 0.07% against the JPY and closed at 78.48, after the release of the better-than-expected consumer sentiment report for October.
According to a report released by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment in the US unexpectedly showed a notable improvement in October, with the consumer sentiment index reaching a five-year high.
Separately, the Japanese government on Friday lowered its assessment for the economy for a third straight month. Over the weekend, the Bank of Japan Governor, Masaaki Shirakawa stated that the central banks providing liquidity to financial markets in times of crisis is important to restoring stability, backing recent moves by global central banks to pursue strong monetary easing.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 78.46, with the USD trading marginally lower from Friday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 78.33, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 78.20. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 78.55, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 78.64.
Investors await the industrial production and capacity utilization data scheduled to be released later today.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.