- USD/JPY remains stable around the 156.78 resistance level as of writing.
- Recently, the dollar remained stronger after policymakers at the Federal Reserve indicated that they still expect inflation to return to 2% over the medium term.
- Recent economic data has not increased their confidence in progress towards the target, according to the minutes of the FOMC meeting from April 30 to May 1.
As a result, officials indicated that the process of slowing inflation is likely to take longer than previously thought, and some suggested being prepared to tighten policy further if upside inflation risks materialize in a way that warrants such action. Keeping the current target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25%-5.50% was supported by mixed data indicating continued strong economic growth.
Recently, the US Federal Reserve kept the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50% during its meeting in May for the sixth time in a row, as continued inflationary pressures and a tight Labor market indicate a halt in progress towards restoring inflation to its normal levels and target 2% This year.
According to stock trading platforms, US stocks continued their downward momentum to close in the red on Wednesday, with major indexes retreating from their recent highs as markets absorbed hawkish signals from the latest Fed meeting. Accordingly, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.3% and 0.2% from their record highs yesterday, respectively, while the Dow Jones lost 0.5%.
Furthermore, the minutes showed that the FOMC has become more concerned about the lack of progress in curbing inflation in the US economy, and several policymakers indicated that they are prepared to tighten monetary policy further if necessary.
Ultimately, losses were widespread among key interest rate-sensitive sectors, with Tesla falling 3.5% and Alphabet falling 0.9%. Meanwhile, Nvidia shares were trading down 0.5% ahead of its highly anticipated earnings report after the closing bell, as its guidance will serve as a key sentiment check for the global AI rally this year. In terms of corporate profits, Target shares fell by 8% after not recording its earnings report, while the PDD ADRs remained hovering in the green zone thanks to the strong results.
USD/JPY Technical Analysis and Expectations Today:
There is no change in our technical view of the bullish performance of the US dollar against the Japanese yen (USD/JPY), and it may remain so until there is Japanese intervention in the currency markets to prevent further collapse of the currency price. According to the current trend, the nearest resistance levels will be 157.20 and 158.00, respectively. Technically, those levels are sufficient to push the technical indicators towards strong saturation levels for purchase. According to the performance on the daily chart, the move towards the support level of 153.50 will be important for the bears to move down. In general, the discrepancy between the policy of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan will continue to support bulls in moving higher.
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