- USD/JPY struggles to capitalize on its modest intraday gains and is nearing one-week lows.
- NFP’s mixed report reaffirms an imminent pause in Fed rate hikes and continues to cap the USD.
- Risk appetite weakens the safe haven yen and is seen to provide some support for the pair.
The pair USD/JPY it reaches a new daily maximum, around the 139.45 zone, during the first hours of the American session, although it finds a new offer at higher levels. Spot prices quickly pull back to the lower end of the daily range and currently trade just above the 139.00 level following the release of the mixed US monthly jobs data.
The US dollar (USD) received a slight boost in reaction to positive NFP data, which showed the US economy added 339,000 new jobs in May. Consensus estimates pointed to a 190,000 job addition and well up from 294,000 the previous month, which in turn benefits the dollar and provides a modest boost to the USD/JPY pair.
However, other details from the Inform revealed that the unemployment rate shot up to 3.7%, missing expectations for a modest rebound to 3.5% from 3.4%. In addition, average hourly earnings also came in below estimates, reaffirming market expectations that the Federal Reserve (Fed) will likely miss an interest rate hike in June. This, in turn, limits the dollar and the USD/JPY pair.
For its part, the downtrend remains moderate, at least for now, due to the more dovish stance adopted by the Bank of Japan (BOJ). This, coupled with risk-on momentum, reflected in a generally positive tone in equity markets, weakens the safe-haven Japanese Yen (JPY) and acts as a tailwind for USD/JPY. , which warrants some caution on the part of bearish traders.
Cash, however, appears to have stopped this week’s pullback from the 141.00 area, or the yoy low, although it remains on track to post losses for the first time in the previous four weeks.
technical levels
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
