USD/JPY Price Forecasts: Bullish momentum fades after rejection at 159.00
- USD/JPY hits session lows below 158.00 after Wednesday's rejection from 159.00
- Lower US Treasury yields and dovish comments by Fed policymakers have sent the US Dollar tumbling.
- The technical picture shows bullish momentum fading, with bears looking at the 157.50 support area.
The US Dollar (USD) trades lower against the Japanese Yen (JPY) on Thursday as US Treasury yields extend their reversal from multi-decade highs after the Federal Reserve (Fed) cooled hopes of back-to-back interest rate hikes. The USD/JPY pair trades at 158.00 with bears looking at the bottom of the last two weeks’ trading range, at the 157.50 area.
US Treasury yields climbed following hot US CPI figures Wednesday to retreat sharply after Fed officials dampened market expectations of an October rate hike. The yield of the benchmark 10-year note has dropped by more than 30 basis points from Wednesday's highs, hitting three-week lows at 5.09%, pushing the US Dollar lower across the board.
In Japan, macroeconomic data has been mixed, with Machinery Orders increasing beyond expectations in August, although the country’s Industrial Production for the same month was revised lower.
Also on Thursday, Bank of Japan (BoJ) board member Junko Koeda joined the recent chorus of hawkish BoJ policymakers and called for further rate hikes, amid increasing inflationary risks, although the impact on the Yen was limited.
Technical Analysis: Support at 157.50 comes under pressure as bullish momentum fades
The USD/JPY trades at 157.91, with the near-term bias still bullish but with indicators showing a growing bearish momentum after another rejection at the 159.00 area on Wednesday. The 4-hour Relative Strength Index (14) has dipped below the 50 level, and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is slightly negative, hinting at consolidation rather than outright reversal for now.
Bears should confirm below the 157.50 area, which has capped downside attempts several times over the last two weeks, to increase pressure towards the late September lows at 156.36. A break of that level would highlight a double top at 159.00 and expose the September 17 low, near 155.35.
On the topside, initial resistance is located at the mentioned 159.00 area (September 24, October 14 lows), followed by the 160.00 psychological area and the September 2 high near 160.40.
(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 Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.60% | -0.53% | -0.38% | -0.27% | 0.60% | -0.42% | -0.76% | |
| EUR | 0.60% | 0.07% | 0.21% | 0.31% | 1.23% | 0.18% | -0.17% | |
| GBP | 0.53% | -0.07% | 0.15% | 0.24% | 1.13% | 0.09% | -0.25% | |
| JPY | 0.38% | -0.21% | -0.15% | 0.10% | 1.01% | -0.05% | -0.39% | |
| CAD | 0.27% | -0.31% | -0.24% | -0.10% | 0.89% | -0.13% | -0.49% | |
| AUD | -0.60% | -1.23% | -1.13% | -1.01% | -0.89% | -1.02% | -1.37% | |
| NZD | 0.42% | -0.18% | -0.09% | 0.05% | 0.13% | 1.02% | -0.36% | |
| CHF | 0.76% | 0.17% | 0.25% | 0.39% | 0.49% | 1.37% | 0.36% |
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
FXStreet
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.
