USD/JPY bulls take up the baton ahead of the Fed

USD/JPY is turning higher as Tokyo gets going while the focus remains on the risk of the Federal Open Committee meeting later in the New York session.

At the time of writing, USD/JPY is trading at 109.08 having travelled from a low of 108.96 and reaching a high of 109.09 so far.

Meanwhile, US markets were little changed overnight, shrugging off disappointing US Retail Sales data.

Instead, the US dollar remained firm in anticipation of the Fed's easy money stance along with the recently approved fiscal stimulus package. 

News that many European nations decided to suspend the AstraZeneca vaccine on concerns of increased risk of blood clots underpinned the greenback also.

 US treasuries ended slightly higher last night, as the FOMC began its two-day meeting.

''The FOMC will most certainly look to revise up their growth and labour market views for the forecast period at the March policy meeting following the passage of President Biden's stimulus package through Congress,'' analysts at Westpac explained.

''As a result, we expect that, while some members of the Committee will look to bring forward their anticipated timing for the first fed funds rate hike(s), the median will remain at or very close to zero to the end of the forecast period.''

USD/JPY levels