USDJPY Trading Near March High

USDJPY Weekly

USDJPY has been moving side ways since the beginning of December 2014. The deepest correction has the retracement to 38.2% Fibonacci level in mid-December and was followed by another in January that attracted buyers just above the previous low.  Since then price has challenged the previous high once and after failing to penetrate the resistance it created a higher low. Now the pair has yet again moved to the upper weekly Bollinger Bands. At the same time we have the US Dollar Index at a level that resisted moves higher in March this year.

USD has been relatively strong against the JPY throughout period it has been correcting against the other currencies and as the weekly lows have been higher with the latest CPI number from States surprising to the upside it could well be that the upper end of this range will eventually give in. At the end of the day it is more likely that the US Fed will hike the rates before the Japanese central bank which could even come up with yet another round of stimulus.


USDJPY Daily

Last week’s rally lifted USDJPY to the upper end of the range that has limited the pair’s movements since the end of the last year. Stochastics is overbought and price is reacting lower after moving above the upper daily Bollinger Band and also very close to the March high. If today’s daily candle closes to current levels or lower price has created a bearish shooting star candle. Stochastics is about to move below its three day moving average and could give a bearish signal should the weakness continue. Nearest support and resistance levels are 120.84 to 120.50 and 122.02.


USDJPY 240 min

The pair fell lower after hitting a historical resistance at 121.68 and has since found support at a minor support level that coincides with a high from Wednesday last week. This lack of upside momentum and a correction lower has eased the overbought condition in this timeframe and brought the oscillators lower. The nearest more significant support area (120.83 – 120.61) is currently near the lower Bollinger Bands and 38.2% Fibonacci level while the next major resistance is at 122.02.

Conclusion

Price is trading close to a longer term resistance and we could see market creating an exhaustion candle (shooting star). Today’s price action however might not be that important as many significant markets have been on holiday. Whenever a market is trading close to a resistance one should be looking for shorting opportunities. This market is trading near its resistance levels and therefore I would only initiate long positions after a correction to a significant support. Due to divergent inflation expectations and relatively strong US economy the dollar yen pair should eventually move higher but as usual a low risk entry would be preferable.Taking advantage of corrections to significant support levels such as the range created by Friday’s low at 120.61 and 1.5 stdv Bollinger Bands at 120.83 would be a preferable strategy to buying close to a resistance. Look for confirming price action at the key levels. If aforementioned support level fails to attract buyers assumptions in this analysis need to be re-evaluated.