USDJPY Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the USD weakened 0.14% against the JPY and closed at 93.63.
Yesterday, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) reaffirmed its long-term credit rating on Japan at “AA-” with a “Negative” outlook. It also stated that it would take time to see if current Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe’s policies are effective.
On economic front, Japanese machine tool orders fell 26.4% (YoY) in January, higher than the preliminary estimate of a decline of 26.1% and slower than a fall of 27.5% reported in the previous month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 93.64, with the USD trading marginally higher from yesterday’s close.
This morning, Taro Aso, the Finance Minister of Japan, stated that the Japanese government has no intention to buy foreign currency denominated bonds as a part of its monetary easing plan.
Meanwhile, minutes released today morning for central bank’s board meeting on January 21 and 22, revealed that members remained firmly committed to defeating nation’s deflation and achieving price stability. The Bank of Japan policy makers also indicated that buying longer dated government bonds as a policy option.
The pair is expected to find support at 93.41, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 93.18. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 94.02, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 94.41.
The currency pair is trading between its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
