USD/JPY bulls eyeing a sustained move beyond 108.00 handle

The USD remains supported by tempered Fed rate cut expectations.
Escalating geopolitical tensions do little to hinder the positive move.

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

The USD/JPY pair traded with a positive bias for the second consecutive session on Monday and built on the previous session's goodish bounce from over three-week lows.

The US Dollar regained some positive traction on Friday after the St. Louis Fed President James Bullard partly ruled out the possibilities of 50 bps rate cut at the July meeting and turned out to be one of the key factors behind the pair's intraday up-move around 80-pips.

The momentum extended through the start of a new trading week and seemed rather unaffected by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East - especially after Iran seized a British Oil tanker, which tends to underpin the Japanese Yen's relative safe-haven demand.

Bulls might now be eyeing a follow-through up-move beyond the 108.00 handle, though absent relevant market-moving economic releases might keep a lid on any runaway rally ahead of the highly anticipated two-day FOMC meeting on July 30-31.

Traders also awaited fresh developments in the US-China trade negotiations and hence, it will be prudent to wait for a sustained buying before confirming that the pair might have actually bottomed out in the near-term or positioning for any further near-term appreciating move.

Technical levels to watch

USD/JPY

Overview
Today last price	108.01
Today Daily Change	0.27
Today Daily Change %	0.25
Today daily open	107.74

Trends
Daily SMA20	108
Daily SMA50	108.56
Daily SMA100	109.92
Daily SMA200	110.65

Levels
Previous Daily High	107.98
Previous Daily Low	107.21
Previous Weekly High	108.38
Previous Weekly Low	107.21
Previous Monthly High	108.8
Previous Monthly Low	106.78
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	107.69
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	107.5
Daily Pivot Point S1	107.31
Daily Pivot Point S2	106.87
Daily Pivot Point S3	106.54
Daily Pivot Point R1	108.08
Daily Pivot Point R2	108.42
Daily Pivot Point R3	108.85

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD flirts with daily highs, retargets 1.1900

EUR/USD regains upside traction, returning to the 1.1880 zone and refocusing its attention to the key 1.1900 barrier. The pair’s slight gains comes against the backdrop of a humble decline in the US Dollar as investors continue to assess the latest US CPI readings and the potential Fed’s rate path.

GBP/USD remains well bid around 1.3650

GBP/USD maintains its upside momentum in place, hovering around daily highs near 1.3650 and setting aside part of the recent three-day drop. Cable’s improved sentiment comes on the back of the Greenback’s irresolute price action, while recent hawkish comments from the BoE’s Pill also collaborate with the uptick.

Gold clings to gains just above $5,000/oz

Gold is reclaiming part of the ground lost on Wednesday’s marked decline, as bargain-hunters keep piling up and lifting prices past the key $5,000 per troy ounce. The precious metal’s move higher is also underpinned by the slight pullback in the US Dollar and declining US Treasury yields across the curve.

Crypto Today: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP in choppy price action, weighed down by falling institutional interest

Bitcoin's upside remains largely constrained amid weak technicals and declining institutional interest. Ethereum trades sideways above $1,900 support with the upside capped below $2,000 amid ETF outflows.

Week ahead – Data blitz, Fed Minutes and RBNZ decision in the spotlight

US GDP and PCE inflation are main highlights, plus the Fed minutes. UK and Japan have busy calendars too with focus on CPI. Flash PMIs for February will also be doing the rounds. RBNZ meets, is unlikely to follow RBA’s hawkish path.

Ripple Price Forecast: XRP potential bottom could be in sight

Ripple edges up above the intraday low of $1.35 at the time of writing on Friday amid mixed price actions across the crypto market. The remittance token failed to hold support at $1.40 the previous day, reflecting risk-off sentiment amid a decline in retail and institutional sentiment.