USD/JPY on a vertical rise to 118.00 in light trading

Fresh bids emerged for USD/JPY at 5-DMA in Tokyo opening trades, allowing a sharp recovery mode over last hours, in a bid to regain 118 handle.

USD/JPY takes-out Tuesday’s highs

The dollar-yen pair regains poise and now builds onto yesterday’s gains as positive sentiment seen around the Asian equities underpin the spot.

Moreover, mixed Japanese datasets also weigh on the yen somewhat, collaborating to the renewed uptick in USD/JPY. The Japanese industrial figures missed estimates, arriving at 1.5% in the reported month versus 1.8% expectations, while the retail sales data bettered expectations, coming in at 1.7% versus 0.9% exp.

The latest leg higher can be also attributed to the positive reaction shown by the Asian traders to upbeat US economic data published yesterday. The USD/JPY pair is last seen exchanging hands at 117.67, retreating slightly from session highs of 117.74, still up +0.21% on the day.

USD/JPY Technical levels to watch 

The major finds immediate resistance at 118 (round number). A break above the last, the major could test 118.43 (Dec 16 high) and 118.67 (10-month highs) beyond the last. While to the downside, the immediate support is seen at 117.37/38 (daily low/ 5-DMA) next at 117.14 (daily S1) and below that at 116.54 (20-DMA).