Drawing Support From Renewed Russia Jitters

USD/JPY went offered Wednesday as U.S. Sec of State Blinken said the U.S. sees no signs of the promised partial withdrawal of Russian troops from the Ukrainian border, a claim later reiterated by NATO chief and the government in Kyiv. The lack of hawkish surprises in the latest FOMC minutes added some incremental pressure to the pair.

• Further scepticism about Russia's assurances has inspired a round of USD/JPY sales this morning, as a senior U.S. official noted that Moscow has added 7,000 troops along the Ukrainian border and continues to spread false claims about Ukraine's military activity, possibly seeking a false pretext to invade.
• USD/JPY trades at Y115.35, 17 pips lower on the day. Bears look for a fall through Feb 14 low of Y115.01 before targeting Feb 2 low of Y114.16. Conversely, a jump above Feb 10/Jan 4 highs of Y116.34/35 would signal the resumption of an uptrend.
• A number of press reports flagged that PM Kishida will unveil new border rules during a press briefing today. According to Nikkei sources, the government is looking to implement a three-tier quarantine system from March, whereby isolation requirements would depend on
• Core machine orders headline the local docket during the remainder of the day, before focus turns to Friday's CPI report.