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The USD/JPY followed the tendency of its counterparts. In course of the previous week, the pair was booking some small losses and was trading around 122.35. Moreover, during the Asian session, the Japan Index of Business Conditions for September improved from 101.4 to 101.6, while Japanese manufacturing PMI for November slightly improved from 52.4 points to 52.8 points. Moreover, the Bank of Japan minutes from the last meeting were published overnight, which showed that the BoJ board members had moved the timing for reaching its 2% price growth target to the second half of fiscal 2016 due to weak oil prices, a global economic slowdown and other macroeconomic factors. Eventually, by the end of the week, the USD/JPY pair remained largely supported by positive US data outlook, with the Greenback benefitting the most during the morning hours of the North American trading session.
Traders are getting less optimistic about the pair, as the proportion of optimists slipped to 64% this week from almost 75% a week earlier. As we already mentioned, there will be several important news releases from the world's largest economy this week, which all will have a direct impact on the pair. On Wednesday, the US is to publish the ADP report on private sector jobs creation as well as weekly data on crude oil stockpiles. Meanwhile, Fed Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak about the US economic outlook at The Economic Club of Washington D.C. Also, the US is to round up the week with the closely watched report on nonfarm payrolls.
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