USDJPY Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the USD strengthened 0.23% against the JPY and closed at 117.72.
Yesterday, nationwide department store sales in Japan dropped 1.7% on a YoY basis in December. In the previous month, nationwide department store sales had eased 1.0%.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 118.21, with the USD trading 0.41% higher from yesterday’s close.
Earlier today, the IMF projected the Japanese economy to grow at 0.6% in 2015.
The pair is expected to find support at 117.31, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 116.41. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 118.72, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 119.23.
Meanwhile, market participants would keep a close eye on the BoJ’s monetary policy statement and the BoJ Governor, Haruhiko Kuroda’s speech scheduled for tomorrow.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
