USD/JPY Outlook (23rd January 2019)

• Trade Balance
  
• BOJ Outlook Report (Tentative)
  
• Monetary Policy Statement (Tentative)
  
• BOJ Press Conference (Tentative)
  

Price Movement
Since yesterday, USD/JPY declined and ascended back to the same price level.

Trend
USD/JPY is trending upwards.

Macro Background
Released monthly, Trade Balance measures the difference in value between imported and exported goods during the reported month. Export demand and currency demand are associated since the importers are required to pay the exporters in terms of the exporter’s currency. Thus, an increase in export demand leads to an increase in the demand of the exporter’s currency.
(Note: A positive trade balance implies that export is greater than import, vice-versa.)

The better than forecasted released data did not seem to have a positive impact on the Yen. Instead, USD/JPY moved upwards on the release of the data. This may be due to the fact that despite having a better than expected data, Japan’s Trade Balance figure is still negative, implying that import is greater than export, which in turn leads to a lower demand of the Yen.

Important Issue
The BOJ Outlook Report and Monetary Policy Statement will be released tentatively today.
Also, BOJ Press Conference will be on tentatively as well.
This may cause volatility in the movement of USD/JPY.

Technical
USD/JPY is currently moving towards the resistance level of 109.744.

Price Levels
Current Price: 109.650
Next Resistance: 109.744
Next Support: 108.734