USD/JPY eases down to 112 as Wall Street turns red

Trump wants to impose tariffs despite a new round of talks with China.
US Dollar Index inches close to 95 in the NA session.
USD/JPY remains on track to make its highest weekly close since early July.

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

After rising to its highest level in more than a month at 112.16, the USD/JPY pair lost traction as the latest trade headlines weighed on the market sentiment and helped the JPY gather strength against its rivals. As of writing, the pair was trading at 112, adding 0.09% on the day.

Bloomberg just recently published a report claiming that the U.S. President Donald Trump directed aid to proceed with the tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports despite the White House's attempts to organise a new round of negotiations with Beijing. Major equity indexes, which started the day on a positive note, reversed course on these headlines and the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were last seen down 0.15%.

Despite the weaker risk appetite, the pair doesn't have a hard time staying near the 112 mark as the US Dollar Index sticks to daily recovery gains on the back of upbeat macroeconomic data releases. As of writing, the DXY was up 0.4% on the day at 94.92.

The University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index improved to 100.8 in September to beat the analysts' estimate of 96.6. Furthermore, industrial production expanded by 0.4% in August to match July's reading while business inventories rose 0.6% from 0.1%.

Technical levels to consider

The immediate resistance for the pair aligns at 112.15 (daily high/Aug. 1 high) ahead of 112.60 (Jul. 20 high) and 113.15 (Jul. 19 high). On the downside, supports are located at 111.30 (20-DMA), 110.75 (100-DMA) and 110 (psychological level).

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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.