USD/JPY refreshes weekly tops, 111.00 mark back on sight

Haresh Menghani FXStreet

• Easing US-China trade tensions weigh on JPY’s safe-haven appeal.
• Persistent USD buying/resurgent US bond yields provide an additional boost.

The USD/JPY pair continued gaining positive traction for the second consecutive session on Thursday and refreshed weekly tops in the last hour.

A continuous improvement in investors' appetite for riskier assets - like equities, amid easing US-China trade tensions, was seen weighing on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and remained supportive of the strong bid tone surrounding the major.

This coupled with a follow-through US Dollar upsurge, further supported by buoyant US Treasury bond yields provided an additional boost to the pair's ongoing recovery from over one-week lows touched earlier this week.

The US bond yields were propped higher by remarks from the Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who said on Wednesday that the US central bank would stick to its path of gradual monetary policy tightening cycle.

Today's up-move could further be attributed to some fresh technical buying, especially after yesterday's decisive move back above the very important 200-day SMA barrier. It, however, remains to be seen if bulls are able to maintain their dominant position or the up-move once again fizzles out ahead of the 111.00 handle.

Moving ahead, today's second-tier US economic docket, featuring the release of Philly Fed manufacturing index and the usual weekly initial jobless claims data will now be looked upon for some fresh trading impetus later during the early North-American session.

Technical levels to watch

The 110.80-90 region might continue to act as an immediate resistance, above which the pair seems all set to extend the momentum further towards the 111.40 area (May monthly top). On the flip side, retracement back below mid-110.00s now seems to find immediate support near the 110.25-20 region (200-DMA), which if broken might turn the pair vulnerable to slip back below the key 110.00 psychological mark and retest 109.80-75 support area.

Author

Haresh Menghani

FXStreet

Haresh Menghani is a detail-oriented professional with 10+ years of extensive experience in analysing the global financial markets.

EUR/USD recedes to daily lows near 1.1850

EUR/USD keeps its bearish momentum well in place, slipping back to the area of 1.1850 to hit daily lows on Monday. The pair’s continuation of the leg lower comes amid decent gains in the US Dollar in a context of scarce volatility and thin trade conditions due to the inactivity in the US markets.

GBP/USD resumes the downtrend, back to the low-1.3600s

GBP/USD rapidly leaves behind Friday’s decent advance, refocusing on the downside and retreating to the 1.3630 region at the beginning of the week. In the meantime, the British Pound is expected to remain under the microscope ahead of the release of the key UK labour market report on Tuesday.

Gold looks inconclusive around $5,000

Gold partially fades Friday’s strong recovery, orbiting around the key $5,000 region per troy ounce in a context of humble gains in the Greenback on Monday. Additing to the vacillating mood, trade conditions remain thin amid the observance of the Presidents Day holiday in the US.

Bitcoin consolidates as on-chain data show mixed signals

Bitcoin price has consolidated between $65,700 and $72,000 over the past nine days, with no clear directional bias. US-listed spot ETFs recorded a $359.91 million weekly outflow, marking the fourth consecutive week of withdrawals.

The week ahead: Key inflation readings and why the AI trade could be overdone

It is likely to be a quiet start to the week, with US markets closed on Monday for Presidents Day. European markets are higher across the board and gold is clinging to the $5,000 level after the tamer than expected CPI report in the US reduced haven flows to precious metals.

XRP steadies in narrow range as fund inflows, futures interest rise

Ripple is trading in a narrow range between $1.45 (immediate support) and $1.50 (resistance) at the time of writing on Monday. The remittance token extended its recovery last week, peaking at $1.67 on Sunday from the weekly open at $1.43.