On Wednesday, USD remained weak against JPY as investors remained worried over the US debt ceiling debate. Adding to the pressure for USD was ADP report,
On Wednesday, USD remained weak against JPY as investors remained worried over the US debt ceiling debate. Adding to the pressure for USD was ADP report, released on Wednesday, showing lower-than-anticipated addition of 166,000 private sector jobs in the month of September. Also on Wednesday, USDJPY currency pair settled below the 200-day SMA for the first time in the calendar year 2013.
On Thursday, the pair witnessed some minor recovery from 97.30 – 97.20 support zone marked by 50% Fibonacci Retracement Level of Feb. to May 2013 up-move. This 97.20 support area also coincides with an ascending trend-line extending from Feb. 2013 low through June & August 2013 lows.
Should the pair fail to hold this multiple support zone, it could possibly trigger additional weakness for the currency pair initially towards Aug. 2013 lows, 96.00 – 95.80 support zone marked by 61.8% retracement level. Further, a decisive break below Aug. 2013 lows could make the pair vulnerable to a fresh round of downward pressure in the near-term towards testing sub 93.00 level with intermediate support near 94.40 – 94.20 region.
On the upside, 200-day SMA currently near 98.00 level now seems to provide immediate resistance for the currency pair. This seems to be closely followed by a strong resistance near 98.50 – 98.70 zone marked by 100-day SMA and 38.2% retracement level and could possibly cap any immediate upside for the currency pair.
However, a decisive move above 98.50 – 98.70 zone might trigger a short-covering rally towards a very important psychological resistance near 99.80 – 100.00 zone.
Considering that the pair has decisively weakened below its 200-day SMA for the first time in 2013, the pair seems more likely to continue drifting lower in the near-term. However, the short-term bearish outlook for the currency pair might get negated should the pair continue witnessing recovery from the trend-line support and decisively conquer 100-day SMA.