USD/JPY – Little Activity as US Jobless Claims Disappoints

The Japanese yen is showing little movement on Thursday, as USD/JPY trades in the mid-115 range. On the release front, Japanese Core Machinery Orders posted a strong gain of 2.9%. In the US, Unemployment Claims rose to 290 thousand. Later in the day, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will speak at a conference in Washington hosted by the ECB and Federal Reserve.

US Unemployment Claims has looked solid in recent readings, but the key indicator jumped to 290 thousand, missing the estimate of 282 thousand. This marked a seven-week high for the key indicator. USD/JPY shrugged off the weak reading and continues to show little movement. On Friday, we’ll get a look at US retail and consumer confidence numbers, so we could see some movement from USD/JPY.

Japanese manufacturing data has looked sharp this week. Core Machinery Orders gained 2.7%, crushing the estimate of -1.0%. Revised Industrial Production posted a gain of 2.9%, bouncing back after a decline of -1.9%. The estimate stood at 2.7%. Earlier in the week, Tertiary Industry Activity gained 1.0%, its best showing since April.

USD/JPY for Thursday, November 13, 2014

USD/JPY November 13 at 14:20 GMT

USD/JPY 115.54 H: 115.87 L: 115.31

USD/JPY Technical

• USD/JPY tested resistance at 115.75 in the Asian session. The pair is steady in European trade.
• On the upside, 115.75 remains under pressure. 116.66 is stronger.
• 114.65 is providing strong support.
• Current range: 114.65 to 115.75

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 114.65, 113.68, 112.94 and 110.68
• Above: 115.75, 116.66, 117.94, 118.89 and 119.83

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

USD/JPY is almost unchanged on Thursday. This is consistent with USD/JPY, which has shown little net movement on the day. The ratio currently has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards the US dollar moving higher.

USD/JPY Fundamentals

• 4:30 Japanese Revised Industrial Production. Estimate 2.7%. Actual 2.9%.
• 13:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 282K. Actual 290K.
• 15:00 US JOLTS Job Openings. Estimate 4.81M.
• 16:00 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate 0.7M.
• 17:30 US FOMC Member Charles Plosser Speaks.
• 17:45 Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Speaks.
• 18:01 US 30-year Bond Auction.
• 19:00 US Federal Budget Balance. Estimate -111.5B.
• 20:30 US FOMC Member Narayana Kocherlakota Speaks.

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are GMT

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.