USD/JPY jumps to fresh daily peak, eyes mid-134.00s on upbeat US PMI prints

The USD/JPY pair attracts some dip-buying in the vicinity of the 133.55 region during the early North American session and recovers its early lost ground to the weekly low. Spot prices touch a fresh daily peak, around the 134.30 region, and for now, seem to have stalled this week's retracement slide from the highest level since mid-March.

The US Dollar (USD) jumps back closer to the weekly high following the release of the US PMI prints, which, in turn, is seen as a key factor pushing the USD/JPY pair higher. In fact, S&P Global reported this Friday that business activity in the US private sector expanded at a strengthening pace in April, with the Composite PMI rising to 53.5 from 52.3 in March. Adding to this, the gauge for the manufacturing moves in the expansion territory and comes in at 50.4, while Services PMI edges higher to 53.7, also surpassing consensus estimates.

The data reaffirmed expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will continue raising interest rates, which leads to a goodish intraday recovery in the US Treasury bond yields and benefits the Greenback. The Japanese Yen (JPY), however, might continue to draw support from expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) could begin to phase out its massive stimulus programme later this year. The bets were lifted by the domestic consumer inflation figures released earlier this Friday, which might contribute to capping the upside for the USD/JPY pair,

Hence, it will be prudent to wait for strong follow-through buying before traders start positioning for the resumption of the recent move-up from the vicinity of mid-130.00s, or the monthly low. Nevertheless, the USD/JPY pair remains on track to end in the green for the second straight week.

Technical levels to watch