USD/JPY – Unchanged After BOJ Minutes

The Japanese yen is showing very little movement on Monday, as USD/JPY trades just below the 119 line on Monday. Late Sunday, the BOJ released its policy meeting minutes, with some policymakers expressing concern about the BOJ’s bond-buying program. On Monday, we’ll get a look at Japanese corporate inflation, with the release of the Services Producers Price Index. In the US, today’s sole event is US Existing Home Sales, with an estimate of 5.03 million.

The BOJ minutes indicated that some BOJ policymakers were concerned about the pace of the BOJ’s monetary easing scheme, which involves increasing base money by 80 trillion yen/year. As inflation remains at low levels, there is concern that the BOJ’s inflation target may not be realized. The BOJ’s radical easing program has ravaged the yen, which continues to trade close to the 120 level.

US key numbers were a mix late last week. Unemployment Claims rebounded strongly with a sharp drop of 283 thousand, compared to 304 thousand a week earlier. This easily beat the estimate of 293 thousand. The news was not as good from the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index, which slipped to 5.2 points, down from 5.3 points and a third straight drop. The markets had expected a reading of 8.8 points.

USD/JPY for Monday, February 23, 2015

USD/JPY February 23 at 14:25 GMT

USD/JPY 118.92 H: 119.35 L: 118.88

USD/JPY Technical

• USD/JPY was flat in the Asian session. The pair moved higher in European trade but gave up these gains. USD/JPY is unchanged in the North American session.
• 118.69 is providing weak support. 117.49 is stronger.
• 119.83 is a strong resistance line.
• Current range: 118.69 to 119.83

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 118.69, 117.49, 116.69, 115.56 and 113.83
• Above: 119.83, 120.63, 121.69 and 122.19

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

USD/JPY ratio is unchanged on Monday. This is consistent with the lack of movement we’re seeing from the pair. The ratio has a majority of long positions, indicative of trader bias towards the US dollar moving to higher ground.

USD/JPY Fundamentals

• 15:00 US Existing Home Sales. Estimate 5.03M.
• 23:50 Japanese SPPI. Estimate 3.6%.

*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.