AUD/JPY pulls back from three-week low as Japanese traders praise coronavirus updates

AUD/JPY bounces off three-week low to 73.30, +0.28%, during the early hour of the Tokyo open. The pair recently benefited from the risk reset while the return of the Japanese traders after the Emperor’s Birthday also contributed to the pair’s recovery.

On their return from Monday’s holiday, Japanese traders initially cheered better than forecast 2.1% to 2.3% figures of the Corporate Service Price Index for December month. However, the major boost came from the coronavirus (COVID-19) news that recently started challenging the previous risk-off.

The latest coronavirus figures from China suggest the death toll receding from 150 on February 23 to 71 by the end of February 24 whereas the new confirmed cases grew from 409 to 508 during the same period. The epicenter Hubei also follows the suit with a decline in deaths to 68 from 149 prior compared to 499 new cases against 398 previous readouts.

Also challenging the previous risk-off could be the US President Donald Trump’s mildly positive outlook, as far as the COVID-19 is concerned, as well as upbeat comments from the Federal Reserve Cleveland President Loretta Mester. Furthermore, Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso mentioned that he still doesn’t consider additional stimulus to respond to the Chinese epidemic.

While portraying the risk reset, the US 10-year treasury yields recover three basis points (bps) from its three-year low to 1.41% whereas Japan’s NIKKEI also tame early-day losses to -3.0%.

Investors will now pay close attention to how Japanese traders react to the coronavirus updates as well as the second-tier activity gauges from Japan.

Technical Analysis

Unless breaking 200-day SMA and an ascending trend line from September 2019, respectively around 74.20 and 74.75, prices are less likely to avoid visiting a rising support line from October around 72.60.