Key Highlights
- The US Dollar remained elevated above the 113.50 pivot against the Japanese Yen.
- There is a crucial bullish trend line in place with support at 113.60 on the 4-hours chart of USD/JPY.
- The US Non-farm Productivity in Q3 2017 (Preliminary) rose 3%, compared with the +2.4% forecast.
- Today, the US nonfarm payrolls report for Oct 2017 will be released, which is forecasted to register +312K versus the -33K previous.
USDJPY Technical Analysis
The US Dollar remains in a solid uptrend and recently moved above the 113.60 resistance against the Japanese Yen. However, the USD/JPY pair is facing many hurdles near 114.30, 114.50 and 115.00.
The 4-hours chart of USD/JPY suggests that the pair is struggling to break the 114.30-114.50 resistance zone. There were at least five failures near the mentioned levels. Above 114.50, there is another crucial barrier for buyers near 115.00.
A close above 115.00 is required for sustained gains towards 118.00 in the near term. On the flip side, if the pair fails to move above 114.50 and 115.00, there can be a fresh downside wave. An initial support is near a crucial bullish trend line with support at 113.60 on the same chart.
The stated 113.60 support is also near the 50% Fib retracement level of the last wave from the 112.95 low to 114.26 high. A close below 113.60 should spark further declines toward 113.00.
US Non-farm Productivity
Recently in the US, the Non-farm Productivity for Q3 2017 (Preliminary) was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Department of Labor. The forecast was slated for an increase of 2.4% in the Non-farm Productivity compared with the previous quarter.
However, the actual result was better since there was a rise of 3%, which is double compared with the last increase of 1.5%. The output increased by 3.8% and hours worked rose by 0.8%.
The report added:
From the third quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2017, productivity increased 1.5 percent, reflecting a 2.9-percent increase in output and a 1.4-percent increase in hours worked.
Overall, the USD/JPY pair remains in the bullish region, waiting for Oct’s nonfarm payrolls report for the next move. An increase in the US NFP by more than 250K could be a great bullish signal for USD/JPY to break the 114.50 resistance and test 115.00.
Economic Releases to Watch Today
UK’s Services PMI for Oct 2017 – Forecast 53.3, versus 53.6 previous.
US nonfarm payrolls Oct 2017 – Forecast 312K, versus -33K previous.
US Unemployment Rate Oct 2017 – Forecast 4.2%, versus 4.2% previous.
US Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) Oct 2017 – Forecast 0.3%, versus 0.5% previous.
US Services PMI for Oct 2017 – Forecast 55.9, versus 55.9 previous.
Canada’s employment Change payrolls Oct 2017 – Forecast 15K, versus 10K previous.
Canada’s Unemployment Rate Oct 2017 – Forecast 6.2%, versus 6.2% previous.
