USD/JPY bounces towards 103 as Nikkei attempts recovery

A fresh bout of buying interest caught the USD/JPY over the last hour, lifting the rate nearly 40-pips from around 102.30 levels amid recovering risk sentiment.

USD/JPY eyes 5-DMA at 102.93

The JPY bulls surrendered control as we progress towards mid-Asia, now allowing a fresh bounce in USD/JPY towards 103 handle, as risk-off trades cooled-off a bit amid a minor-recovery staged by the Japanese stocks, largely triggered rebounding oil prices.

The USD/JPY pair finally broke the downside consolidation phase to the upside and climbed higher also on the back of a better bid greenback across the board. At the time of writing, USD/JPY clinches fresh two-day highs at 102.82, up 0.34% on the day, while the Nikkei 225 index recovers to 16,533, now losing -0.58% on the day.

Markets digest the latest comments from the Japanese FinMin Aso, while focus shifts towards a fresh batch of US macro news due later in the NA session, with Fed’s preferred gauge –the core PEC rice index closely eyed.

USD/JPY Technical levels to watch

In terms of technicals , the immediate resistance is located at 102.93/103 (5-DMA/ round number). A break above the last, the major could test 103.43 (daily R3). While to the downside, the immediate support is seen at 102.35 (daily pivot) and below that at 102 (round number).