Like the AUD/USD, the USD/JPY also had a miserable start to 2016. A heavy round of safe-haven buying pushed this pair 300 pips lower by the close 117.20 last week. Support (now resistance) at 118.84 was well and truly engulfed as a result of this, and has likely cleared the path lower this week for price to connect with bids sitting around support painted at 116.71.
By zooming in and looking at the action on the daily chart, we can actually see that the break below the weekly support at 118.84 took place on Wednesday. Following this, price came very close to retesting this barrier as resistance on Friday, before closing the week on its lows. As per this timeframe, there’s little support seen stopping this market from driving lower this week and punching into bids around support at 116.87.
Although U.S employment data came in positive on Friday, gains were short-lived as price quickly turned lower from just below the weekly resistance level (see above in bold) and closed below mid-level support 117.50 by the week’s end (seen on H4).
Much like Friday’s report, our team will once again be focusing on the psychological support 117.00. This level – coupled with the higher timeframe supports at 116.71/116.87 form a potentially tight concentration of bids to keep an eye on for confirmed longs today/this week. The reason for requiring lower timeframe confirmation at this barrier is simply because current fundamentals may override this technical buy zone.
Levels to watch/live orders:
• Buys: 117.00/116.71 Tentative – confirmation required (Stop loss: Dependent on where one confirms this area).
• Sells: Flat (Stop loss: N/A).