The pair opened at Y104.83 and followed the Nikkei 225 lower after trading an initial Y104.96 high. Euro-yen also headed lower after opening at Y142.48, dropping to Y142.20 after Japanese stocks started their day. Dollar-yen was briefly supported off Y104.45 as euro-yen demand kicked in from Y142.00, believed to be option-related. These eventually gave way and dollar-yen went through Y104.45 while euro-yen triggered stops below Y142.00. Dollar-yen then retreated to a Y104.15 low around midmorning before it stabilized again. The cross meanwhile sank to a Y141.50 low around the same time. Dollar-yen witnessed a mild recovery after that, and was last at Y104.38 as demand appeared from the lows, while euro-yen was carried up to Y141.78 in the early afternoon. Looking ahead, dollar-yen focus remains on ret-tests of the 21-day moving average just below at Y104.09 ahead of support at Y103.77, while further down, the Kijun line of the Ichimoku cloud is lower at Y103.54
