USD/JPY’s recovery from 112.25 region lost legs once again near 112.65, and the prices drifted lower to now consolidate in a 15-pips tight range.
USD/JPY: quite choppy in Asia
The bears continue to remain in command and attack every attempt to the upside in the USD/JPY pair as the yen remains heavily bid on the back of fiscal year-end repatriation flows. At the time of writing, USD/JPY trades -0.11% lower at 112.31, heading gradually towards daily lows struck at 112.25 in opening trades.
The major also ignored a minor comeback staged by the greenback across the board this Thursday, following two consecutive days of heavy selling on fading Fed rate hike prospects on dovish Yellen. Further, the optimistic sentiment on the Asian markets also failed to impress the bulls as demand for the Japanese currency overshadowed overall market sentiment.
Meanwhile, markets now await fresh incentives from the European session ahead of the US weekly jobless claims and regional PMI index due later in the NY hours for further momentum on the dollar-yen pair.
USD/JPY Technical levels to watch
In terms of technicals, the immediate resistance is located at 112.62/66 (1h 200-SMA/ daily high). A break above the last, the major could test 113.00/05 (round number/ 1h 100-SMA). While to the downside, the immediate support is seen at 112.12/00 (Mar 23 Low) and below that at 111.36/20 (Mar 22 & 21 Low).
(Market News Provided by FXstreet)