USDJPY Trading Above 144, Retail Sales Coming Up

USDJPY spent most of the European/NY session above 144, despite vice finance minister Kanda’s comments that FX moves are being watched with a “high sense of urgency” and that the government will intervene if the moves are “excessive”. It is currently around 144.41. Fed Powell’s comments strengthened the greenback and the USD index rose 0.5%, but the yen outperformed the G10.

• USDJPY broke resistance at 144.17, which opened up 144.40. The level to watch after that is 145.04, 2% 10-dma envelope. It is now the most overbought (as per the 14-day RSI) since mid-October. It made an intraday high of 144.62 on Wednesday. Initial support is at 141.84.
• EURJPY traded lower to be down 0.2% to 157.61. It reached 158 early in NY but then hit a low of 157.23. Aussie is down 1.1% versus the yen to 95.31, close to the yesterday’s low of 95.16.
• Today retail sales for May print and are expected to rise 0.8% m/m to be up 5.2% y/y after 5% in April. June consumer confidence is also released and is expected to be steady at 36.1.