USD/JPY recovers from below 146.00 while US Dollar retreats ahead of labor market data

The USD/JPY pair discovered buying interest after dropping below the 146.00 support on Wednesday. The asset demonstrated recovery despite weakness in the US Dollar ahead of the United States Automatic Data Processing (ADP) Employment Change data for August.

S&P500 futures remain sideways amid a quiet market mood as investors await the US private employment data. US equities were significantly bought on Tuesday after weaker than anticipated Job Openings data, which elevated Federal Reserve (Fed) soft landing hopes. Softer labor demand indicates that the job market is losing its resilience.

Fewer demand for labor by US firms was also the outcome of lower resignations by workers. Employees seem reluctant to switch jobs as the labor market is not as hot as it was earlier. For more information about the current status of the US labor market, ADP Employment data will be keenly watched.

As per the projections, fresh private payrolls were 195K in August vs. July’s reading of 324K. Investors should note that the economic data has been outperforming consensus for past four months. Higher-than-expected payroll data could allow the Fed to keep discussions about one more interest-rate hike alive.

Meanwhile, weakness in the Japanese Yen remains persistent as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) is not expected to exit from dovish monetary policy sooner. BoJ board member Naoki Tamura said it will take a bit more time to judge whether Japan meets BoJ’s price target in a sustainable manner. Also, in what order and at what pace BoJ exits easy policy will depend on economic conditions at the time.

Japanese authority in its annual economic white paper said that "Japan has seen price and wage rises broaden since the spring of 2022,” adding that “such changes suggest the economy is reaching a turning point in its 25-year battle with deflation.”