USD/JPY drops to 2-week lows, around mid-105.00s

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• A goodish USD rebound fails to provide any respite for the bulls.
• Risk-off mood boosts JPY’s safe-haven appeal and exerts pressure.

The USD/JPY pair extended its post-FOMC retracement slide from one-week tops and is currently placed at over 2-week low, around mid-105.00s.

The pair stalled its Asian session tepid recovery attempt ahead of the 106.00 handle and failed to gain any respite from reviving US Dollar demand, with bears tracking a sharp follow-through weakness in the US Treasury bond yields.

A fresh round of sell-off across global equity markets pointed to deteriorating investors’ appetite for riskier assets and was eventually seen underpinning demand for perceived safe-haven assets, including bonds and the Japanese Yen.

Growing concerns over an upcoming announcement on tariffs from the US President Donald Trump was now seen weighing on investors' sentiment and kept exerting downward pressure on the major.

It would now be interesting to see if the pair is able to find any buying interest at lower levels or bears maintain their dominant position amid relatively thin US economic docket, highlighting the release of weekly jobless claims.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support is pegged near 105.25 level (March low), below which the pair is likely to accelerate the fall towards challenging the key 105.00 psychological mark.

On the upside, any meaningful recovery attempt might continue to confront fresh supply near the 106.00 handle, above which a bout of short-covering could lift the pair back towards 106.55-65 supply zone.

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.