USD/JPY: Confined to a tight intraday range

Manufacturing activity contracted in April in Japan though the numbers were not outrageous. USD/JPY is trading around 107.60, persistently confined to a tight intraday range, FXStreet’s Chief Analyst Valeria Bednarik briefs.

Key quotes

“Japanese data was discouraging, as the April preliminary estimate of the Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI resulted at 43.7 from 44.8 previously. The February Leading Economic Index was revised to 91.7 while the Coincident Index for the same month came in at 95.5, both missing the market’s expectations.”

“The US will release Initial Jobless Claims for the week ended April 17, foreseen at 4200K better than the previous 5245K while PMI Services output is foreseen at 31.5 while the manufacturing activity is foreseen contracting to 38.”

“The 4-hour chart shows that the moving averages remain directionless and all together in a tight range as technical indicators seesaw around their midlines.”