- The USD/JPY pair saw a sharp decline to near 145.00, driven by hawkish guidance from Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda. Ueda reiterated the need for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates further this year.
- He is stressing that the central bank will not hesitate to act if economic and inflationary conditions are in line with expectations.
- This comment strengthened the Japanese yen, putting selling pressure on the USD/JPY pair.
- Furthermore, it is holding around the 144.80 support level at the time of writing.
Despite the strength of the US dollar, as evidenced by the rise of the US Dollar Index (DXY) to a near two-week high of 102.00, the USD/JPY pair remains under pressure. The US dollar has risen as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the upcoming August US Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) data, which is scheduled to be released on Friday. This economic data is crucial as the Federal Reserve shifts its focus more towards managing the downside risks to the labour market, with confidence that inflation is on track to return to the 2% target.
Regrading the economic calendar, Tokyo’s consumer price index (CPI), excluding fresh food, rose faster than expected in August, reaching 2.4%, justifying the Bank of Japan’s hawkish stance.
On the stock trading front, the US stocks closed sharply lower, led by technology stocks. According to trading, US stocks fell sharply on Tuesday, recording their worst day since August 5, driven by economic concerns and a major sell-off in technology stocks. Accordingly, the S&P 500 fell 2.1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 3.1%, and the Dow Jones lost 625 points.
Tech stocks, especially in the semiconductor sector, were at the forefront of the losses. Shares of Nvidia, a leader in the AI-driven market rally, fell 9.5%, dragging down other chipmakers such as Broadcom (-6.2%), Qualcomm (-6.9%) and Micron (-8%). Communications services stocks were also weaker, with Alphabet Inc and Netflix Inc falling 3.7% each. Economic data added to the market’s woes, with weak factory activity in August raising concerns about the strength of the economy.
Overall, investors are increasingly cautious as they anticipate a series of Labor market reports later in the week, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s approach to monetary policy.
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USD/JPY Technical Analysis and Expectations Today
According to the performance on the daily attached, the general trend of the US dollar against the Japanese yen USD/JPY is still strongly leaning downwards. Technically, moving towards the support of 144.00 will support the bears to move stronger downwards towards the support of 141.75, which is the most prominent during that period of time. On the other hand, there will be no actual reversal of the trend without returning to the psychological resistance of 150.00 again. Furthermore, the currency pair will continue to move within its current range until the markets and investors react to the announcement of the US jobs numbers at the end of the week.
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