Monday, November 3, 2014

USD/JPY continues to rally on Monday

USD/JPY continues to rally on Monday, as the pair trades in the mid-113 range late in the European session. USD/JPY has gained a remarkable 500 points in the past week, as the yen finds itself trading at its lowest level since December 2007. On the release front, On the release front, Japanese markets are closed for a holiday. In the US, today’s highlight is ISM Manufacturing PMI. The markets are expecting little change in the upcoming release, with an estimate of 56.5 points.
The dollar surged against the yen on Friday, gaining over 300 points. The yen took a tumble after the BoJ surprised the markets with a move to increase monetary stimulus. The BoJ increased the monetary base from JPY 60-70 trillion to 80 trillion per year. The Japanese central bank said that the move was needed to increase inflation, which remains short of the central bank’s target of 2%.
Japanese data was a mix last week. Preliminary Industrial Production sparkled in September, with a gain of 2.7%, compared to a reading of -1.5% a month earlier. The estimate stood at 2.3%. Earlier in the week, Japanese Retail Sales was unexpectedly strong in September, climbing 2.3%, its strongest gain since March and well above the estimate of 0.9%. There has been concern about consumer spending in Japan after the sales tax was raised in April from 5% to 8%. The government plans to increase the tax to 10%, but is wary about hurting the economy, which has been marked by modest growth. Meanwhile, Household Spending, an important consumer spending indicator, fell 5.6%, well below expectations.
USD/JPY continues its impressive rally on Monday. The pair was steady in the Asian session and has posted strong gains in European trade, breaking past resistance at 11.294 and 113.68.
114.65 is a strong resistance line.
113.68 has switched to a support role as the dollar continues to move upwards. This weak line could see more activity during the day. 112.94 is stronger.
Current range: 113.68 to 114.65 USD/JPY ratio is pointing to gains in long positions on Monday. This is consistent with the pair’s movement, as the dollar continues to post strong gains against the yen. The ratio currently is close to evenly split, indicative of a lack of trader bias towards what direction USD/JPY will take.

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