USD/JPY: subdued below the 113 handle and opening gap Macron-highs

After USD/JPY opening higher today at 112.99 vs the close of 112.46, it is now better offered as markets soak up the Macron victory and decide to offload the trade than stick with it. 

• Official results (40.4m votes): Macron 63.85% vs. Le Pen 36.15%
• European equity futures pop and drop after Macron win

The victory was already priced in and the landslide win of over 65% was hardly a surprise. USD/JPY is now pulling back a little from the 113.13 high in 'sell-the fact' fashion. 

The US dollar has been able to perform on the recent jobs data and signs that the economy continues to grow elsewhere with a run of improved data last week for the most part. As such, the DXY was a weaker open today, continuing with last week's offer and despite the headline nonfarm payrolls with a surprise to the upside. 

The dollar index is not all what you might think it is - BBH

221,000 new jobs were added in April and the unemployment rate also fell to 4.4% - its lowest in a decade. Analysts at Westpac explained, that, overall, "the report supports the FOMC's view that Q1 economic weakness was transitory, justifying the market’s expectations the Fed will hike in June."

Nonfarm payrolls recap: continued improvement in labor market - Nomura

USD/JPY levels

USD/JPY has managed a score through the key 112.98 resistance line, onto the 113 handle and above the top of the cloud at 112.87. It has faded back below here, but it has left a bullish mark in this key territory. "We will need to clear this resistance to set up a run at the 115.51/62 mid January high," argued analysts at Commerzbank, adding, "intraday Elliott waves counts suggest that we should allow for a retracement to approx. 111.50/110.75 Where are we wrong? Below 108.13 will target 107.50 July 2016 high and possibly 106.85, the 61.8% retracement. We cannot rule this out but it is not our favoured scenario."