Yen Loses Ground

USD/JPY has crept higher into the Tokyo fix despite the escalation in the Russian geopolitical tension over the weekend and the proximity of the Fed's monetary policy meeting.

• The rate changes hands +16 pips at Y113.84 at typing, with bulls looking to a move through Jan 18 high of Y115.06. On the downside, focus falls on Jan 14 low/76.4% retracement of the Nov 30 - Jan 4 rally at Y113.49/43 and a break here would expose Dec 17 low of Y113.14.
• The preliminary results of Japan's Jibun Bank PMI survey for this month showed that expansion in the manufacturing sector has accelerated a tad, but services have slipped into contraction. IHS Markit said that "disruption was reported in the labour market, where employment levels fell for the first time in a year," but "it appeared that price pressures may have peaked at the end of last year, as firms noted a softening in input price inflation for the first time in five months."
• Participants eye the release of the summary of opinions from the BoJ's most recent monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, with Tokyo CPI coming up Friday.