USD/JPY extends its sideways move near mid-112s
|- Philly Fed Manufacturing Index beats expectations.
- US Dollar Index stays above 95.50 on Thursday.
- Wall Street starts the day in the red.
The USD/JPY pair is having a tough time setting its next near-term direction as the JPY stays resilient against the USD amid weaker appetite for risky assets. At the moment, the pair is trading in the middle of its daily 30-pip range around 112.50 and losing 0.13% on the day.
Today's data from the U.S. revealed that the initial weekly jobless claims fell to 210K and the continuing jobless claims touched its lowest level in 45 years at 1.6 million. Furthermore, the headline business activity index of the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing survey came in at 22.2 to beat the analysts' estimate of 22.2 The US Dollar Index, which gained traction yesterday evening after the FOMC's September meeting minutes suggested a hawkish policy outlook, advanced to a fresh 8-day high at 95.78. As of writing, the DXY was up 0.04% on the day at 95.70.
On the other hand, the sharp fall witnessed in crude oil prices weighed on the energy sector and forced major equity indexes in the U.S. to start the day lower. At the moment, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 indexes are down 0.4% and 0.5, respectively, to reflect a risk-off mood, which benefits the safe-haven JPY.
In the absence of major macroeconomic data releases in the remainder of the day, the market's risk perception is likely to stay as the primary catalyst of the pair's price action.
Technical levels to consider
The pair could face the initial support at 112 (psychological level) ahead of 111.60 (100-DMA) and 111.10 (Sep. 12 low). On the upside, resistances align at 112.70 (daily high), 113.00 (20-DMA) and 113.40 (Oct. 9 high).
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