USD/JPY Price Analysis: Breaks to new YTD highs on USD strength, rising wedge in focus

USD/JPY surges to a YTD high of 141.91, though failure to surpass 142.00 could trigger a sell-off.
The rising wedge pattern sparks uncertainty as USD/JPY nears key resistance.
Japanese FX intervention may influence future USD/JPY direction.

Christian Borjon Valencia FXStreet

USD/JPY soared more than 1% on Friday due to safe-haven flows and a jump in US Treasury bond yields. On its way north, the USD/JPY reached a new year-to-date (YTD) high of 141.91 after bouncing off daily lows of 139.85. At the time of writing, the USD/JPY is exchanging hands at 141.85.

USD/JPY Price Analysis: Technical outlook

USD/JPY finished the week with a higher tone but facing solid resistance, as the daily chart shows. The major has been trading within a rising wedge, and the USD/JPY closed nearby the top-trendline of the pattern at around 141.86. Failure to crack resistance and push prices above 142.00 would expose the USD/JPY to selling pressure. In addition, Japanese authorities’ language interventions in the FX markets could weigh on the pair and open the door for a correction.

With the USD/JPY’s path of least resistance being upwards, the pair’s first ceiling level would be 142.00. Break above will expose the November 22 high at 142.24, ahead of reaching 143.00. Conversely, the USD/JPY could dive to May’s 29 high turned support at 140.92 before dropping to the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 139.40.

USD/JPY Price Action – Daily chart

USD/JPY

Overview
Today last price	141.86
Today Daily Change	1.51
Today Daily Change %	1.08
Today daily open	140.35

Trends
Daily SMA20	139.58
Daily SMA50	136.71
Daily SMA100	134.89
Daily SMA200	137.24

Levels
Previous Daily High	141.5
Previous Daily Low	139.94
Previous Weekly High	140.45
Previous Weekly Low	138.76
Previous Monthly High	140.93
Previous Monthly Low	133.5
Daily Fibonacci 38.2%	140.91
Daily Fibonacci 61.8%	140.54
Daily Pivot Point S1	139.7
Daily Pivot Point S2	139.04
Daily Pivot Point S3	138.14
Daily Pivot Point R1	141.26
Daily Pivot Point R2	142.16
Daily Pivot Point R3	142.82

Author

Christian Borjon Valencia

FXStreet

Markets analyst, news editor, and trading instructor with over 14 years of experience across FX, commodities, US equity indices, and global macro markets.

EUR/USD faces next resistance near 1.1930

EUR/USD continues to build on its recovery in the latter part of Wednesday’s session, with upside momentum accelerating as the pair retargets the key 1.1900 barrier amid a further loss of traction in the US Dollar. Attention now shifts squarely to the US data docket, with labour market figures and the always influential CPI releases due on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

GBP/USD slips heading into the Thursday trading window

The Pound Sterling pulled back from four-year highs on Wednesday, weighed down by a combination of Bank of England dovishness and UK political uncertainty, even as the US Dollar weakened on soft labor market revisions.

Gold posts modest gains above $5,050 as US-Iran tensions persist despite strong labor data

Gold price trades in positive territory near $5,060 during the early Asian session on Thursday. The precious metal edges higher despite stronger-than-expected US employment data. The release of the US Consumer Price Index inflation report will take center stage later on Friday.

Bitcoin holds steady despite strong US labour market

Bitcoin briefly bounced from $66,000 to above $68,000 but slightly reversed those gains following Wednesday's US January jobs report. The top crypto is hovering around $67,000, down 2% over the past 24 hours as of writing on Wednesday.

The market trades the path not the past

The payroll number did not just beat. It reset the tone. 130,000 vs. 65,000 expected, with a 35,000 whisper. 79 of 80 economists leaning the wrong way. Unemployment and underemployment are edging lower. For all the statistical fog around birth-death adjustments and seasonal quirks, the core message was unmistakable. The labour market is not cracking.

XRP sell-off deepens amid weak retail interest, risk-off sentiment

Ripple (XRP) is edging lower around $1.36 at the time of writing on Wednesday, weighed down by low retail interest and macroeconomic uncertainty, which is accelerating risk-off sentiment.