USD/JPY: Dollar Push Rejected at 50-Day Moving Average. What’s Next for the Pair?

Japanese yen is slipping beyond 151 to the US dollar. Can the moving averages stop the bulls in their tracks?

• The USDJPY pair pressed ahead just enough to ricochet off the 50-day moving average in what has turned out to be a coordinated bear response to a bullish upside swing. In other words, the dollar met resistance at the ¥151.60 mark, which is right where the 50-day MA is resting. If that level is taken out, the next and bigger resistance would be the 200-day moving average at ¥152.00.
• What’s a moving average? It’s an essential indicator which shows the average price of an asset over a set period, helping to smooth out price fluctuations and identify trends. In this case, both MAs are spotted on the daily timeframe — the 50-day line is a short-term tool and the 200-day line is a long-term tool to gauge price direction. Prices under the line means bearish sentiment and vice versa — above the line is the bulls’ reign.
• Enough with the technical stuff; let’s move over to fundamentals. Japan’s gross domestic product for the third quarter released on Monday showed the local economy expanded by 0.3% on a quarterly basis. The printout exceeded analyst estimates of a 0.2% growth clip but slipped below the 0.5% for the previous quarter. Also, inflation data is coming out of the US on Wednesday and traders will be watching to ride out the forex volatility.