USD/JPY opened in Sydney at Y119.70 this morning after being held to a narrow Y119.47 to Y119.83 range during European and US market hours. Initial trade activity was tepid and dollar-yen found it self stuck in a narrow 10-point range between Y119.64 and Y119.74 through the opening hours. It traded a low of Y119.63 soon after Japanese stock markets opened but rallied back to Y119.80 within the first half-hour of the session. Pullbacks were minor, with the pair holding off Y119.70 through most of the morning. Gains were also however limited as attempts to test Y120.00 appeared to run out of momentum. The pair traded up to a Y119.85 high, just about matching yesterday’s Y119.83 before the move stalled again and the pair then reversed direction. The failure to test Y120.00 has fuelled talk of semi-official accounts selling the pair from there, while on the downside, there’s talk of stops at the Y119.45/40 region with fresh demand then coming into play at Y119.10/00.
