Fundamental Overview
The USD has been weakening
across the board since Tuesday when some comments from USTR Greer suggested that
de-escalation was still the base case. The fall in Treasury yields has also
been a bearish driver for the greenback as the dovish interest rate expectations
increased.
Domestically, nothing has
changed for the US dollar as the US government shutdown continues to delay many
key US economic reports. The dollar “repricing trade” needs strong US data to
keep going, especially on the labour market side, so any hiccup on that front
is likely to keep weighing on the greenback.
The BLS announced last week
that despite the shutdown, it will release the US CPI report on October 24, so
that’s going to be a key risk event. That will need to be seen in the context
of US-China relations at that time though. If things go south on that front,
then the CPI will not matter much as growth fears will trump everything else.
On the JPY side, the
currency strengthened last Friday following the risk-off sentiment triggered by
the US-China escalation. Domestically, Takaichi is having some trouble securing
enough votes to become the next Prime Minister after the loss of Komeito
support. This has also been a minor driver of yen strength. On the monetary
policy side, nothing has changed. Traders are assigning just a 22% probability
of a rate hike at the October meeting given the political uncertainty and 41%
chance of a rate hike by year-end.
USDJPY
Technical Analysis – Daily Timeframe
On the daily chart, we can
see that USDJPY probed below the major support zone around the 151.00 handle
but it’s now coming back above it. This is where we can expect the buyers to
step in with a defined risk below the recent low to position for a rally into
the 154.80 level. The sellers, on the other hand, will want to see the price falling
back below the support to pile in for a drop into the 148.50 support next.
USDJPY Technical
Analysis – 4 hour Timeframe
On the 4 hour chart, we can
see that we have a downward trendline defining the bearish momentum. If we get
a pullback into it, we can expect the sellers to lean on the trendline with a
defined risk above it to position for a drop into the 148.50 support. The
buyers, on the other hand, will want to see the price breaking higher to
increase the bullish bets into the 154.80 level next.
USDJPY Technical
Analysis – 1 hour Timeframe
On the 1 hour chart, we can
see that we have another minor downward trendline that could act as resistance.
The sellers will likely lean on it to keep pushing into new lows, while the
buyers will look for a break higher to increase the bullish bets into the next
trendline
