USD/JPY Forecast Dec. 23, 2011, Fundamental Analysis

The USD/JPY pair traded in a narrow range near its highest level in three days; however the trading is still within the same range which dominated the pair’s movements for two weeks.

The U.S. dollar lost momentum before the year end, where profit taking pushed majors higher against the dollar and the yen. On the other hand, fears of possible intervention from BOJ still surrounded the USD/JPY pair, which drags it to a narrow range trading.

Bank of Japan kept the interest rate steady at 0.10% during December meeting, while the central bank lowered the Japanese economy assessment for the second month in row.

The BOJ did not change its monetary policy at the last meeting in 2011, while the Japanese yen still trading near its highest level verses most of its major counterparts, opening the way for more concerns about the outlook for the BOJ during 2012.

On Friday at 13:30 GMT, the U.S. economy will release the Durable Goods Orders for November with a previous reading of –0.7% and it’s expected to come at 2.1%.

The Personal Income for November is expected to slow to 0.3% from 0.4%, while the Personal Spending is expected to come at 0.4% from the previous 0.1%.

The core Personal Consumption Expenditure for November is expected in line with the previous rise of 0.1% on the month and 1.7% on the year.

At 15:00 GMT, the U.S. economy will issue the New Home Sales for November, where it’s expected to rise 1.8% to 313 thousand from 307 thousand.