Key Highlights

• The US Dollar has recovered sharply this week and traded above 110.00 against the Japanese Yen.
• There are two bearish trend lines positioned near 110.60 on the 4 hours chart of USD/JPY.
• Japan’s Nikkei Manufacturing PMI for August 2017 posted a minor decline from 52.8 to 52.2.
• Today, the US nonfarm payrolls for August 2017 will be released, which is slated to post 180K, down from the last 209K.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis

The US Dollar after trading as low as 108.26 recovered sharply this week against the Japanese Yen. The USD/JPY pair traded towards 110.60 where it faced sellers and currently correcting lower.

On the upside, there are two bearish trend lines positioned near 110.60 on the 4 hours chart. These trend lines stopped the recent upside move near 110.60 and pushed the pair back below the 200 simple moving average.

The pair corrected below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the 108.26 low to 110.66 high. On the downside, there is a major support near 109.80, which acted as a resistance earlier.

The 109.80 area is also the 38.2% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the 108.26 low to 110.66 high. Therefore, any major dips towards 109.80 can be considered as buying opportunity. The 200 SMA is positioned at 109.70, which is likely to act as a major hurdle for sellers.

Japan’s Nikkei Manufacturing PMI

Today, the Japanese Nikkei Manufacturing PMI for August 2017 was released. The forecast was slated for no major change from the last reading of 52.8.

The actual result was on the lower side, as there was a decline in the PMI in August from 52.8 to 52.2. The output, new orders and employment expanded and posted a decent rise in August 2017.

Commenting on the report, the Director at IHS Markit, Paul Smith, stated:

August’s survey showed growth moving broadly sideways, maintaining the recent positive trend of improvement in the health of the manufacturing sector.

Overall, the USD/JPY pair remains supported on the downside near 109.80 109.60. If the outcome of today’s NFP is above 180K, the pair would accelerate the upside move.

Economic Releases to Watch Today

• US nonfarm payrolls August 2017 – Forecast 180K, versus 209K previous.
• US Unemployment Rate August 2017 – Forecast 4.3%, versus 4.3% previous.
• US Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) August 2017 – Forecast 0.2%, versus 0.3% previous.

US ISM Manufacturing Index for August 2017 – Forecast 56.3, versus 56.5