USD/JPY Forecast Dec. 29, 2011, Fundamental Analysis

The USD/JPY pair dropped early Wednesday despite the thin trading in the FX market, where the Japanese yen advanced against most of its major counterparts, while the dollar fell amid low volume trading.

Gains for the safer assets such as the yen remain a constant, as concerns regarding the EU debt crisis fueled haven demand which in roll reduces demand for higher-yielding currencies.

On the other hand, the latest U.S. data support the hope that the U.S. economy is gaining momentum, while the ongoing EU debt crisis remains an obstacle in the way of the optimism in the financial market.

On Thursday at 13:30 GMT, U.S. economy will issue its weekly initial claims numbers, where the number of people filing for first-time claims for the state unemployment insurance dropped to 364 thousand last week.

The U.S. economy will issue the Chicago Purchasing Manager for December at 14:45 GMT, where the prior reading was 62.6 and it’s expected to come at 60.2.

At 15:00 GMT, Pending Home Sales for November will be and expected with 1.8% rise after 10.4%.