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USD/JPY Price Forecast: Dollar finds resistance at the 161.75 previous support

  • USD/JPY remains capped below the 161.75 area after dropping from session highs at 162.40.
  • The Yen rallied after Japan's Finance Ministry announced a plan to repatriate pension fund investments.
  • The US Dollar remains on its back foot amid rumours of ongoing diplomatic efforts to resume US-Iran peace talks.

The US Dollar (USD) holds losses below 161.75 against the Japanese Yen (JPY) on Friday following a 100-pip reversal earlier on the day. Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama announced a plan to boost pension funds’ investment in domestic assets, which sent the Yen surging across the board during the Asian trading session.

Katayama said on Friday that the government wants the giant Japanese pension funds, which manage more than USD 1.8 trillion in assets, to redirect their investment into the domestic market. The market has seen this plan as more effective than interventions to support the Yen, and the immediate reaction was a strong JPY recovery.

The US Dollar, on the other hand, remains moderately soft, amid rumours that Qatar and Pakistan are working to bring US and Iran back to the negotiating table. Beyond that, the release of the minutes of June’s Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, released on Wednesday, showed a split committee on interest rates, which cast doubt over the timing of the next hike, and added pressure on the USD.

Technical Analysis: Dollar bears are gaining momentum

USD/JPY Chart Analysis

USD/JPY trades at 161.70, with bulls capped below a previous support area at 161.75 so far. The loss of momentum is evident following Friday's reversal, with the four-hour Relative Strength Index (14) slipping toward the low-40s and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) turning slightly negative.

Downside attempts, so far, have been contained near 161.30, which keeps the key 160.50 support area (July 2 low) out of sight for now. On the topside, bulls would need to breach the mentioned resistance area around 161.75 and Thursday's lows at 162.30 to look at the 40-year high, at 162.84, again.

(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool. Know more.)

Japanese Yen Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the Canadian Dollar.

USDEURGBPJPYCADAUDNZDCHF
USD-0.02%-0.03%-0.47%-0.00%-0.02%-0.18%-0.07%
EUR0.02%-0.01%-0.46%0.02%-0.02%-0.17%-0.05%
GBP0.03%0.01%-0.46%0.03%-0.01%-0.16%-0.05%
JPY0.47%0.46%0.46%0.48%0.46%0.27%0.39%
CAD0.00%-0.02%-0.03%-0.48%-0.03%-0.19%-0.08%
AUD0.02%0.02%0.01%-0.46%0.03%-0.16%-0.07%
NZD0.18%0.17%0.16%-0.27%0.19%0.16%0.10%
CHF0.07%0.05%0.05%-0.39%0.08%0.07%-0.10%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).

Author

Guillermo Alcala

Graduated in Communication Sciences at the Universidad del Pais Vasco and Universiteit van Amsterdam, Guillermo has been working as financial news editor and copywriter in diverse Forex-related firms, like FXStreet and Kantox.

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