USD/JPY recovers above 109 on Trump comments, still headed for a negative closing

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

The USD/JPY pair gained some bullish momentum after U.S. President Donald Trump's latest comments and had a quick 30-pip leap. Despite this recent rise, the pair is still headed for a negative close on a daily basis. At the moment, the pair is trading at 109.23, down 0.08% on the day.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Donald Trump revealed that he was planning to announce a tax plan next week, which would introduce cuts for individuals and businesses. Following the comments, the US Dollar Index marched to a new session high at 99.94.

Trump will unveil tax plan next week, includes "massive" tax cut - AP

Additionally, the announcement received some positive feedback from the stock markets as well and helped the risk sentiment improve before the markets wrap up the week. After a weak start to the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered daily losses and is now back in the positive, gaining more than 8 points on the day.

On a weekly basis, the pair added around 100-pips as the JPY struggled to find demand as a safe-haven amid a lack of developments surrounding the tension between the U.S. and North Korea. Furthermore, earlier in the week, BoJ Governor Kuroda revealed that they are not thinking about an exit strategy from the ultra-loose monetary policy anytime soon, further reducing the interest on the JPY.

Technical levels to consider

The pair could face the initial hurdle at 109.80 (200-DMA) followed by 110 (psychological level) and 110.80 (Mar. 27 high). To the downside, supports could be found at 109 (psychological level) ahead of 108.10 (Apr. 17 low) and 107.75 (Nov. 15 low).

Author

Eren Sengezer

FXStreet

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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