The pair opened at Y101.63 vs the dollar this morning in the Asia-Pacific after a US session low of Y101.62 on Friday. It extended the losses in early trade as euro-yen also deflated following weekend comments from ECB President Mario Draghi about the euro’s strength and as the Nikkei 225 also opened in the red. The cross fell to Y140.43 after opening at Y140.71 in the first few hours of the session while dollar-yen retreated to a Y101.42 low. Dollar-yen recovered some ground after that as bearish sentiment lacked conviction, edging up to Y101.60 around midmorning. Dollar-yen then settled in anarrow Y101.50/60 range through the rest of the morning, and was last at Y101.58. Looking ahead, a close above Y102.47 is needed to hint at a bigger bounce with the 100-day moving average (Y102.95) the first hurdle bulls will need to overcome. Stops remain below Y101.20 and Y100.75 and above Y102.20 and Y102.50.
