After the second round of yen-tervention this week, the pair caught a modest bounce from 153.00 to 156.00 yesterday. All that before a turn right before US trading to just under 155.00 and that kept running all the way to where we are now, near the 153.00 mark. The low earlier today hit 152.75, though the pair is still down 0.4% now.
In the battle for control, it looks like Japan is finally wearing out the resolve of dip buyers this week.
USD/JPY daily chart
The pair looks set to finish lower in four of the five days this week, although two of which owes to intervention. It is now closing in on three-week lows as all eyes turn towards the slate of US data before the weekend comes along.
The US jobs report and ISM services PMI report will be the two key risk events on the agenda today. We saw some indecisiveness in the bond market with Treasury yields falling overnight. Let’s see if the data later will give more reason for that or vice versa. That will also have an impact on the dollar side of the equation, after some softness in trading yesterday.