JPY had a rather subdued morning in Asia today after it had opened at Y104.81 vs the dollar and at Y142.65 on the euro. Early market action saw dollar-yen trading in a Y104.78 to Y104.86 range, holding near the bottom of that when the Nikkei 225 opened lower. Dollar-yen however caught a bid tone despite the weaker stock market, and was carried up to Y104.94 within the first hour of the stock market session. Some dealers said the move was due to Gotobi Day fixing demand, while others said they bids from Japanese and other Asian accounts were responsible for the move higher. Euro-yen also followed the pair up after it marked an early Y142.56 low, rebounding to Y142.80. Dollar-yen pulled back a bit after the Tokyo fix but recovered to trade a fresh sessionhigh of Y104.96 just short of last night’s Y105.03 in the US while the cross went on to Y142.86. Dollar-yen was last at Y104.91 with euro-yen at Y142.81. Dollar-yen offers are ahead from Y105.20 and Y105.45/50, which are likely to limit upside for the pair ahead of tonight’s non-farm payrolls data. On the downside, the 21-day moving average comes in at Y104.43 today and it should be noted that a close below the 21-day has not been seen since early-Nov 2013.
