USD/JPY – Japanese yen dips on surprise Japanese trade deficit

USD/JPY has posted slight gains on Wednesday. In the North American session, the pair is trading at 110.86, up 0.23% on the day. On the release front, Japan posted a rare trade deficit in January, with a reading of JPY -37 trillion. The markets are bracing for further weak releases on Wednesday. Flash Manufacturing PMI is forecast to come in at 50.4, pointing to stagnation. As well, All Industries Activity is projected to post a decline of 0.2%. In the U.S., the sole event is the Federal Reserve minutes from the January meeting. Thursday will be busy, with the U.S. posting durable goods and unemployment claims.

The Federal Reserve has turned dovish in 2019, after aggressively raising rates four times in 2018. If recent comments from Fed policymakers are any indication, the minutes from the January policy meeting are also likely to be dovish in tone. The January rate statement discarded previous pledges of “further gradual increases” in interest rates, and said it would be “patient” before any further hikes. The current Fed projection calls for two rate hikes this year, but that is subject to change, based on the strength of the U.S. economy. The markets have priced in a hold on rates for the near-term, with little expectation of a rate hike in the first half of the year.

There is increased optimism over the U.S-China trade spat, and improved risk appetite could weigh on the safe-haven yen. Chinese and U.S. officials are now conducting a fourth round of talks, as the sides look to ease trade tensions after months of tit-for tat tariffs which have hurt global growth and rocked the stock markets. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin joined the talks last week and called the negotiations “productive”. The U.S. has threatened to impose stiff new tariffs on March 1, but on Tuesday, President Trump said that the talks were going well and that March 1 was not a “magical day”. If the March 1 deadline is removed, we could see the yen lose ground.

A golden day for sterling

Yen weakens on delayed reaction to Kuroda

Dollar falls for a fifth straight session

USD/JPY Fundamentals

Tuesday (February 19)

• 18:50 Japanese Trade Balance. Estimate 0.17T. Actual -0.37T
  

Wednesday (February 20)

• 14:00 US FOMC Meeting Minutes
• 19:30 Japanese Flash Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 50.4
• 23:3o Japanese All Industries Activity. Estimate -0.2%

Thursday (February 21)

• 8:30 US Core Durable Goods Orders. Estimate 0.2%
• 8:30 US Durable Goods Orders. Estimate 0.8%
• 8:30 US Philly Fed Manufacturing Index. Estimate 15.6
• 8:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 220K
• 18:30 Japanese National Core CPI. Estimate 0.8%

*All release times are EST

*Key events are in bold

USD/JPY for Wednesday, February 20, 2019

USD/JPY February 20 at 9:40 EST

Open: 110.61 High: 110.95 Low: 110.55 Close: 110.86

USD/JPY Technical

In the Asian session, USD/JPY posted slight gains. The pair has shown limited movement in the European and North American sessions

• 110.28 is providing support
• 110.90 is a weak resistance line. It was tested earlier on Wednesday
• Current range: 110.28 to 110.90

Further levels in both directions:

• Below: 110.28, 109.37, 108.11 and 107.36
• Above: 110.90, 112.16 and 112.93

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.