AUD/JPY bulls cheer China-inspired optimism, mixed Japan data around 89.50

AUD/JPY prints mild gains around the highest level in a week.
China scraps quarantine rules for inbound travelers from early January.
Japan’s Unemployment Rate, Retail Trade eased in November, Job/Applicants Ratio improved.
Market sentiment stays firmer amid holiday mood, receding fears of hawkish central bank actions.

Anil Panchal FXStreet

AUD/JPY grinds higher around 89.50 as bulls benefit from the cautious optimism in the market during the holiday season. In doing so, the cross-currency pair extends Friday’s gains to print the highest levels in one week, despite the latest retreat.

That said, the quote’s run-up could be linked to the risk-on mood in the market, mainly propelled by China, as well as receding hopes of the hawkish moves by the Bank of Japan (BOJ).

China scrapped the COVID quarantine rule for inbound travelers starting from January 08. The news joined geopolitical fears emanating from Russia and North Korea to portray cautious optimism in the market. As a result, S&P 500 Futures rise 0.60% intraday to 3,892 whereas the US 10-year Treasury yields remain sluggish at around 3.74% by the press time.

The recent comments from Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Fumio Kishida tried to tame the hawkish expectations from the central bank after it tweaked the monetary policy in the last week. That said, BOJ’s Kuroda stated that widening of yield band not a step toward easy policy exit. On the same line, Japanese PM Kishida ruled out expectations that the government-BOJ will revise the central bank statement.

Talking about the data, Japan’s Unemployment Rate eased to 3.5% in November versus 3.6% expected prior while the Jobs / Applicants Ratio reprinted 1.35 for the said month compared to 1.33 market forecasts. Further, Retail Trade growth eased to 2.6% YoY versus 2.8% consensus and 4.4% upwardly revised prior.

Moving on, a light calendar ahead of Saturday’s China official PMIs will join the year-end inaction in the market to restrict AUD/JPY moves.

Technical analysis

AUD/JPY recovery remains elusive unless providing a daily closing beyond the previous support line from early August, close to 91.20 by the press time.

Additional important levels

Overview
Today last price	89.5
Today Daily Change	0.27
Today Daily Change %	0.30%
Today daily open	89.23

Trends
Daily SMA20	91.41
Daily SMA50	93.01
Daily SMA100	93.82
Daily SMA200	93.32

Levels
Previous Daily High	89.23
Previous Daily Low	89.23
Previous Weekly High	92.02
Previous Weekly Low	87.02
Previous Monthly High	95.56
Previous Monthly Low	92.15
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	89.23
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	89.23
Daily Pivot Point S1	89.23
Daily Pivot Point S2	89.23
Daily Pivot Point S3	89.23
Daily Pivot Point R1	89.23
Daily Pivot Point R2	89.23
Daily Pivot Point R3	89.23

Author

Anil Panchal

FXStreet

Anil Panchal has nearly 15 years of experience in tracking financial markets. With a keen interest in macroeconomics, Anil aptly tracks global news/updates and stays well-informed about the global financial moves and their implications.

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