A subdued morning for the Japanese currency, with dollar-yen stuck in a narrow range while euro-yen enjoyed a mild stop-loss driven move higher early in the session. Dollar-yen opened at Y101.50 and spent the early hours trading on either side of that, between Y101.45 and Y101.54, capped by rumored offers from atop the Y101.68 overnight high. Euro-yen meanwhile opened at Y139.15 and in line with dollar-yen, spent the initial few hours between Y139.08 and Y139.19. Euro-yen however broke higher around mid-morning when the market went on a stop-loss hunt above Y139.20. The cross was then carried up to a Y139.31 high, triggering a similar rise in dollar-yen, which extended the early highs to Y101.60. Both pairs backed away a bit after that, with euro-yen slipping back to last trade at Y139.23 while dollar-yen retreated to Y101.53. Initial resistance for dollar-yen remains in place at Y101.65-70 but a close above the 55-day moving average (Y102.31) would see the focus shift higher to the 100-day at Y102.62. Bears continue to target lower levels with immediate focus now on the Y100.40-50 region with a daily close below the 200-day at Y101.25 seen adding weight to the bearish case.
