On Friday morning, the USD/JPY currency pair was testing the weekly S1 located at the 111.76 mark.
Given that the pair is squeezed by the weekly S1 and the weekly S2 at 111.57, it is likely, that the pair could trade sideways in the short term.
The European Common Currency traded sideways against the US Dollar, following the US Durable Goods Orders data release on Thursday at 12:30 GMT. The EUR/USD exchange currency rate lost 8 pips or 0.07% right after the release. The Euro continued trading at the 1.1140 level against the US Dollar.
Census Bureau released the US Core Durable Goods Orders data that came out better-than-expected of 0.4% compared with forecast 0.2%.
The US Durable Goods Orders reached 2.7% in March. This is the strongest growth since July. According to analysts, the rise was driven by the growing demand for commercial aircraft. Economists are expecting that the US manufacturing, weakened by slower global economic growth and trade wars, will begin to recover in following months to support the economy.
Last week of the month
On Friday, at 12:30 GMT the US Advance GDP will be published. This is the top US data set, which has the largest impact on the US currency.
Meanwhile, check out the previous data release covers and economic calendar analysis on the Dukascopy Webinars YouTube channel.
USD/JPY short-term daily review
During the previous trading session, the USD/JPY currency pair dropped to the weekly S3 at 111.38 and reversed north.On the one hand, the pair could trade sideways in the short term, as it is squeezed by the weekly S1 and S2, located at 111.78 and 111.57 respectively.
On the other hand, given that the exchange rate is pressured by the 55-, 100– and 200-hour SMAs, bears could prevail in the market. A possible downside target is the weekly S3.
It is unlikely, that the rate could jump higher than 111.97 due to the resistance of the given moving averages and the weekly PP.
Hourly Chart
On the daily chart there is no significant additional information.
It is worth mentioning that the 200-day simple moving average still was located at the 111.50 level. If the rate declines, this SMA will provide its support. The rate is also supported by the lower boundary of the medium-term channel at 111.53.
Daily chart
On the Swiss Foreign Exchange, 64% of the total open position volume was in short positions.
Meanwhile, trader set up pending orders were bearish, as 58% of pending commands in the 100-pip range were set to sell.