Another day of continued weakness for the JPY, with dollar-yen rising to highest levels since May again and poised to test fresh highs for 2013. Dollar-yen opened at Y102.94, and initially held steady at Y102.92/98. It pulled back briefly to Y102.83 low as offers at Y103.00, rumored to be option-related, kept the pair away from the US session’s Y103.13 high. But dollar-yen pushed through those offers later in the morning, and then pushed through the overnight high as dealers spoke of medium-to-large option contractsexpiring later this month, at Y103.25 and Y103.30, with more then seen at Y103.50 and Y104.00. Dollar-yen’s gains paused for a while just shy of Y103.20 but made another determined push in the early afternoon, clearing out some of those rumored option strikes and trading a Y103.39 high. Dollar-yen was last at Y103.34, with the market working its way toward the 2013 low of Y103.73, traded May 22. Near-term, large offers ahead of Y103.50 and the May 23 Y103.57 high are likely to slow the pair’s ascent. On the downside, immediate support seen at Y102.60 ahead of Y102.05, with real money demand cited at Y101.95, stops below Y101.90. A close below that hints at a deeper correction to Y100.50-00 region.
