On Friday, the USD weakened 0.73% against the JPY and closed at 117.75.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 117.61, with the USD trading 0.12% lower from Friday’s close.
Early this morning, the minutes of the BoJ from its latest monetary policy indicated that the central bank’s board members were of the view that the Japanese economy did not need additional quantitative easing measures, citing that sliding oil prices were expected to boost the nation’s economy in the long term.
In other economic news, Japan’s exports grew more than market forecasts by 12.9% on a YoY basis in December, posting its biggest rise in a year, thereby showing a steady economic recovery in the recession hit Japanese economy. Meanwhile, adjusted merchandise trade deficit in Japan narrowed to ¥712.10 billion in December, compared to a revised adjusted merchandise trade deficit of ¥832.50 billion in the prior month.
The pair is expected to find support at 117.01, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 116.41. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 118.46, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 119.32.
The currency pair is trading below its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.