USD/JPY extends slide toward 104.50, hits five-day lows
- Yen among top performers even as Wall Street holds onto gains.
- US data: mixed PPI and an unexpected decline in consumer sentiment.
The USD/JPY continued to decline during the American session and fell to 104.60, hitting the lowest level since Monday. As of writing it trades near the lows, losing ground for the second day in a row but still positive for the week.
Lower US yields weighed on the US dollar on Friday. The yen strengthened despite higher equity prices in Wall Street. The Dow Jones is up by 0.80% and the Nasdaq by 0.35%.
Economic data from the US showed mixed numbers regarding PPI and a decline in Consumer Sentient (November preliminary) to the lowest since August. The numbers did not affect the US dollar. Several FOMC officials spoke with caution about the current economic outlook.
Form a technical perspective, the USD/JPY respected a downtrend line and resumed the decline on Friday. The negative tone is gaining momentum. The next strong support might be seen around 104.00: a break lower should open the doors to more losses. The negative bias in USD/JPY should be negated if it breaks above 105.70, an area where a downtrend converges with the 100-day moving average.
Author
Matías Salord
FXStreet
Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.
