The Japanese Yen (JPY) holds ground against the US Dollar (USD) following the Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy decision on Friday, keeping its interest rate at 0.15%, as highly expected. Additionally, Japan's Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 3.0% year-on-year in August, up from 2.8% previously, marking the highest level since October 2023. Additionally, the Core National CPI, excluding fresh food, reached a six-month high of 2.8%, rising for the fourth consecutive month and in line with market expectations.
The downside of the USD/JPY pair is supported by a weaker US Dollar (USD) as expectations grow for additional rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) by the end of 2024. The latest dot plot projections indicate a gradual easing cycle, with the 2024 median rate revised to 4.375%, down from the 5.125% forecast in June.
However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated in the post-meeting press conference that the Fed is not in a hurry to ease policy and emphasized that half-percentage point rate cuts are not the "new pace."
USD/JPY trades around 142.30 on Friday. Analysis of the daily chart indicates that the pair is consolidating within a descending channel, which supports a bearish bias. However, the 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains below the 50 level, confirming an ongoing bearish outlook.
On the downside, the USD/JPY pair might find immediate support at 139.58, which is the lowest level since June 2023, followed by the lower boundary of the descending channel near 137.50.
On the resistance side, the 21-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at the 143.56 level acts as an initial barrier, followed by the upper boundary of the descending channel around the 144.80 level.
The table below shows the percentage change of Japanese Yen (JPY) against listed major currencies today. Japanese Yen was the strongest against the US Dollar.
USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USD | -0.04% | -0.08% | -0.30% | -0.01% | -0.16% | -0.13% | -0.22% | |
EUR | 0.04% | -0.04% | -0.24% | 0.03% | -0.13% | -0.08% | -0.18% | |
GBP | 0.08% | 0.04% | -0.19% | 0.08% | -0.06% | -0.03% | -0.11% | |
JPY | 0.30% | 0.24% | 0.19% | 0.30% | 0.14% | 0.16% | 0.10% | |
CAD | 0.01% | -0.03% | -0.08% | -0.30% | -0.16% | -0.10% | -0.19% | |
AUD | 0.16% | 0.13% | 0.06% | -0.14% | 0.16% | 0.05% | -0.03% | |
NZD | 0.13% | 0.08% | 0.03% | -0.16% | 0.10% | -0.05% | -0.08% | |
CHF | 0.22% | 0.18% | 0.11% | -0.10% | 0.19% | 0.03% | 0.08% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Japanese Yen from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent JPY (base)/USD (quote).
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