EUR/JPY halts rally at 20-MA, ahead of 143.00

• EUR/JPY rises for the fourth day, although it cuts gains and looks vulnerable.
• While EUR/USD remains range bound, USD/JPY loses strength after hitting a 1-week high.

EUR/JPY’s advance from levels below 140.00 seems to have run into a major resistance zone around 143.00 from where it is pulling back. It is still positive for the day, but far from the maximum.

In the Asian session, the crossing reached 142.93, the highest level since December 20. It then started to pull back and recently reached 142.11. At time of writing, he is trading around 142.40, positive but with a bearish intraday tone. In case of returning to 142.60, the euro would regain strength. On the contrary, if it breaks 142.10, the cross would be ready for a return below 142.00.

The 143.00 zone contains the 20-day moving average, which gives it more relevance. A daily close clearly above would be a positive factor for the bulls.

Subdued bond recovery favors the yen

The sovereign bond yields in the US and in Europe they are falling, although they have moved away from the lows of the day. The 10-year Treasury bond yields 3.82% and the 2-year 4.35%, while the German 10-year yields 2.49%. The pullback is small compared to Tuesday’s jump and partly explains the yen’s rally in the market. Equity markets move without a clear direction.

The EUR/USD stability, which has been in a range around 1.0620 for several sessions, with some bullish bias, gives support to EUR/JPY. Should it happen, a break of EUR/USD below 1.0580 could increase bearish pressures on EUR/JPY, unless such a move is accompanied by a USD/JPY rally above 134.40.

technical levels