The USD/JPY managed to pass the weekly R1 pivot point at 103.82. Since it occurred at mid-day on Thursday, the pivot point has been providing the rate with support.
In the meantime, by the middle of Friday's trading, the rate has made three attempts to pass the resistance of the round exchange rate level of 104.00.
Economic Calendar
The week will end with the release of three US employment data sets. The releases will occur on Friday at 13:30 GMT. This event has caused moves from 10.4 to 26.3 pips since August.
During the next week there will be minor data sets published, which could cause initial reactions of up to 20 pips. Traders with close by tight stop losses should take into account the times of the macroeconomic data releases.
On Wednesday, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to publish the Consumer Price Index and Core Price Index at 13:30 GMT.
Afterwards, at 13:30 GMT, expect the weekly US Unemployment Claims. Despite the attention this release gets, we do not recommend monitoring it closely. The USD/JPY has moved only 3.6 to 8.1 pips on the release since December 10.
The week will end with the publication of the US Retail Sales and US Core Retail Sales at 13:30 GMT. In November and December, these data sets caused an increase of volatility above the average.
Click on the link below to find out more about the data releases of this and other currency exchange rates.
USD/JPY short-term daily review
The USD/JPY currency pair has revealed a medium-term descending channel.From a theoretical perspective, it is likely that the exchange rate could bounce off the upper channel line and trade downwards in the short run. Note that the rate could gain support from the 55-, 100– and 200-hour SMAs, as well the weekly PP in the 103.20/103.40 area.
In the meantime, note that the currency pair could gain support from the weekly R1 at 103.82. Thus, if the predetermined channel does not hold, the pair could target the psychological level at 104.40.
Hourly Chart
On the daily candle chart, the rate has retraced back up to the resistance of the 55-day simple moving average at 104.05. This level is strengthening both the recently discovered pattern's resistance line and the resistance of the 104.00 round exchange rate.
Daily chart
On Thursday, on the Swiss Foreign Exchange around 71% of volume was in long positions.
At mid-day on Friday, the sentiment was 64% long.
Meanwhile, trader set up pending orders in the 100-pip range around the rate were 72% to sell.
The orders were unchanged since Thursday.