USD/JPY analysis: consolidating in thin holiday's trading

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

USD/JPY Current price: 110.59

Japanese data once again disappointed, with Machinery Orders down by 0.1% MoM in December.
FOMC Meeting's Minutes to be out next Wednesday could give the pair a directional boost.

The USD/JPY pair spent Monday trading in a 20 pips' range, unable to react to the optimistic stance of Asian markets, nor to dollar's broad weakness. The positive market mood, however, was enough to keep it afloat. There was no activity in bond markets, which added to the quietness around the pair. In the data front, Japan released December Machinery Orders at the beginning of the day, which fell by 0.1% MoM well below the 3.5% advance expected while, when compared to a year earlier, the advance was of 0.9%, beating the market's forecast of 0.4%. There are no news scheduled in Japan this Tuesday.

The short-term picture is now neutral according to the 4 hours chart, as the pair continues developing well above its 100 and 200 SMA, while the RSI indicator turned flat around 53 and the Momentum turned north, now aiming to enter positive ground. The risk of a downward move should increase on a break below 110.10, the immediate support, while bulls will be more confident on gains above 111.00.

Support levels: 110.10 109.75 109.40

Resistance levels: 110.65 111.00 111.30

View Live Chart for the USD/JPY

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

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