AceTraderFx Feb 18: Intra-Day News and Views (USD/JPY) & data to be released today

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
06 Jul 2016[/B] [I]02:02GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... Despite staging a minor short-covering recovery after New York close following hawkish comments by some Fed officials (see previous updates for details), the pair tumble ahead of Tokyo open as intra-day selloff in the sterling prompted fresh round of yen-buying by investors on risk aversion. 

The intra-day weakness in the Nikkie (currently down 3% at 15192) suggests market remains in ‘risk off’ mode. Therefore, selling the greenback is recommended.

Offers have been lowered to 101.00/10 and more above, some bids are noted at 100.50-40 and more below with stops touted below 100.00.

Although U.S. will release some eco. data in New York morning, market may pay more attention to Fed minutes for June later in the day at 18:00GMT

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
11 Jul 2016[/B] [I] 04:02GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - 100.63.. Dlr pared initial gain after ratcheting from 100.45 (New Zealand) to 100.88 following Sunday's landslide win by the ruling LDP in the upper house election.  

Despite strong performance in the Nikkei (currently up 3.5% at 15642), the pair was unable to make further headway towards the 101.00 level, suggesting price is likely to move inside Friday’s post-NFP range of 100.00-101.28 for rest of the day.

With no key U.S. economic data due out, technical trading and fund flows will have greater influence over intra-day price swings.
For now, offers are tipped at 100.90/00 and more above with stops reported above 101.50.
Initial bids are noted at 100.50-45 and more below with stops building below 100.00.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
13 Jul 2016[/B] [I]03:00GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... In total stark contrast to dlr's spectacular rally seen on Monday and Tuesday (this 2-day rise was the biggest dlr's gain since 2014), the pair fell just ahead of Tokyo open.

Intra-day accelerated when Japan’s government spokesman denied “helicopter money” as part of next stimulus measure, dlr later tumbled to as low as 103.95 before stabilising.

Looks like yesterday’s 2-week high print at 104.99 would continue to hold and choppy trading with downside bias is likely as dlr longs established this week will be unwound, therefore, selling the pair on intra-day recovery is favoured.

Offers are tipped at 104.35/45 n more at 104.70.
Initial bids are noted at 104.00-103.90 with some stops touted below 103.70.

Yesterday, Abe’s meeting with former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, a proponent of “helicopter money” policies, also fueled speculation that the government’s stimulus package could be funded by the Bank of Japan’s easing.
Today, The Sankei newspaper reported Etsuro Honda, an economic adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, told the premier that now was a good time to embark on the policy, in which money is printed and directly handed to the private sector to stimulate the economy.
While Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the Bank of Japan would decide monetary policy steps based on market movements and economic environment.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
13 Jul 2016[/B] [I]08:02GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ......Reuters reported The Bank of Japan will factor in the government's planned fiscal stimulus package in producing new quarterly projections this month, which will help moderate any cuts to its inflation forecasts, sources familiar with its thinking said. 

The BOJ is usually reluctant to factor in the effect of fiscal stimulus packages unless details, including the actual size of spending, are finalised and announced by the government.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has yet to announce the size of his planned stimulus package and may not finalise the amount before the BOJ’s policy meeting on July 28-29, when the bank conducts a quarterly review of its growth and price forecasts.

But the BOJ will likely take into account the impact from the upcoming package, which analysts say could be worth around 10 trillion yen ($96 billion), and the boost to consumption from a delay in the sales tax hike scheduled for April 2017, the sources said, and the prime minister has made it quite clear there will be a sizable stimulus package aimed at beating deflation, it would be strange not to take into account the effect of such a package in compiling estimates.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
18 Jul 2016[/B] [I]02:15GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... The Japanese yen took centre stage in hectic trading on Monday despite closure of Japanese financial markets for Marine Day holiday. 

Market volatility accelerated near New York close on Friday following breaking news of a military coup in Turkey, causing the pair to tank from around 105.70 to session lows of 104.64.
However, dlr opened higher in New Zealand on Monday following Bloomberg’s report ahead of Asian open of early dovish comments by Japan’s Chief Govt. spokesman Suga (see 00:00GMT update).
Price climbed from 105.07 to as high as 106.02 in Australia before retreating briefly to 105.31 at Asian open.

Dlr’s aforesaid retreat from 106.02 suggests further choppy trading below Friday’s 3-week peak of 106.32 would continue ahead of European open and in the absence of comments by Japanese official, the pair may drift lower.

Offers are tipped at 106.00/30 area from Japanese exporters) with stop above 106.50, however, more stops are touted above pre-Brexit high of 106.84.
Bids are noted are 105.40-30 and more below with some stops below 105.00.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
29 Jul 2016[/B] [I]01:05GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - 104.35.. Reuters reported Japan's core consumer prices in June suffered the biggest annual decline since the Bank of Japan embarked on its aggressive stimulus drive in 2013, piling pressure on the central bank to expand an already massive stimulus programme. 

Separate data showed household spending fell 2.2 percent, down for a fourth straight month, underscoring the fragile nature of Japan’s economic recovery.
Factory output rose 1.9 percent in June and the jobless rate fell to 3.1 percent, marking the lowest reading in nearly 21 years, with job availability at a nearly 25-year high, reflecting labour shortages, other data showed.

The data comes hours before the Bank of Japan concludes a closely watched two-day rate review ending on Friday, with near-consensus in markets that it will deploy additional stimulus to match the government’s planned big spending package.

The central bank, under pressure from the government, is considering specific steps for expanding monetary stimulus to address signs of weakness in inflation, people familiar with the bank’s thinking said.
The bank has been buying assets like exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but already holds around a third of Japan’s market for government bonds (JGBs).

The 0.5 percent fall in the core consumer price index, which includes oil products but excludes fresh food prices, was lower than economists’ median estimate for a 0.4 percent annual fall. It fell for fourth straight month, and the decline was the largest since March 2013, just a month before the BOJ deployed the quantitative and qualitative easing programme.
The so-called core-core inflation index, which excludes food and energy prices and is similar to the core index used in the United States, rose 0.4 percent in the year to June.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views USD/JPY
03 Aug 2016[/B] [I]01:14GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... BOJ's policy board members shared the view that inflation expectations had weakened somewhat in the short term but remained on an upward path in the long term, minutes of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting held on June 15-16 showed on Wednesday.  

The BOJ refrained from offering additional monetary stimulus at the June meeting despite anaemic inflation and weak global growth.
One member of in June repeated a call to reduce government bond purchases while another member said the focus has shifted to interest rates from asset purchases, highlighting doubts about the current policy framework.

At a subsequent meeting on July 29 the BOJ surprised investors by saying it would release a comprehensive review of its quantitative easing in September, reinforcing the view that the BOJ’s current policy framework has reached its limit.

Reuters then reported Japan’s top currency diplomat, Masatsugu Asakawa, said on Wednesday that foreign exchange moves were nervous and that he would watch the market closely.
Asakawa, the vice finance minister for international affairs, made the remarks to reporters at the ministry.

The dollar fell to a three-week low of 100.68 yen on Tuesday after the Japanese government approved a largely expected set of stimulus measures. It was trading around 101.20 yen on Wednesday.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
17 Aug 2016[/B] [I] 01:16GMT
[/I]
USD/JPY - … Despite yesterday’s selloff to 99.54 on broad-based buying of yen, the greenback rallied to 100.53 in New York on hawkish comments from Fed officials.
Dlr found renewed buying at 100.16 in Australia today and rose to 100.68 at Tokyo open due to the initial rise in Nikkei-225.

Market focus is now on the release of FOMC minutes today at 18:00GMT.
Traders will be looking closely for hints on when policymakers would look to hike interest rates next.

Bids are now seen at 100.20/30 and more below at 100.00/10 with stops building up below there whilst initial offers are noted at 101.20/30, suggesting choppy trading with upside bias would be seen.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
22 Aug 2016[/B] [I] 02:09GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... Although the greenback opened significantly higher to 100.92 in New Zealand today on weekend news of comments from BoJ's Kuroda (see previous MMN), profit-taking offers there capped intra-day gains and price retreated sharply to 100.30 ahead of Asian open. 

Dlr pared its losses and staged a recovery to 100.75 at Tokyo open before retreating again.

Since there is no major economic data due today, further choppy trading would be seen.
Bids are now seen at 100.20/30 and more below at 100.00/10 with stops building up below there whilst initial offers are noted at 101.20/30.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
24 Aug 2016[/B] [I]01:09GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... The greenback rose from yesterday's European low at 99.94 to 100.29 at New York midday, then price ratcheted higher to 100.52/53 at Tokyo open on broad-based selling of JPY. 

However, profit-taking offers there capped intra-day gains and price retreated to 100.26 in Asian morning.

Since there is no major eco. data due today, further choppy trading is likely to be seen with bids noted at 100.00/10 and more below at 99.80/90 with stops building up below there whilst initial offers are noted at 100.80/90.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
26 Aug 2016 [/B][I] 01:05GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ....... Despite staging a rebound after finding renewed buying at 100.30 in Europe today, the greenback retreated sharply at Tokyo open today due to data which showed Japan July consumer prices post its biggest annual fall in three years. 

Although market focus is on Fed Yellen’s testimony at 14:00GMT due to the guidance she might provide on the central bank’s monetary policy, traders should also keep an eye on the release of U.S. GDP and GDP deflector at 12:30GMT.
Street forecasts are 1.1% and 2.4$ vs previous readings of 1.2% and 2.2% respectively.

Bids are now lowered to 100.20/30 and more below at 100.00/10 with stops building up above there whilst initial offers are noted at 100.80/90, suggesting further choppy trading would be seen ahead of Fed’s Yellen speech.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
31 Aug 2016[/B] [I]01:25GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... THe greenback found renewed buying at 102.16 in European morning and rallied to an intra-day high at 102.13 in New York afternoon as the release of upbeat U.S. consumer confidence data increased speculation of a rate hike from the Fed later this year. 

Profit-taking offers there pressured the pair lower to 102.86 ahead of Asian open before climbing to 103.23 at Tokyo open.

Pay attention to the release of U.S. ADP employment at 12:15GMT.
Street forecast is for a slight drop to 175K from previous reading of 179K.

Bids are now seen at 102.70/80 and more below at 102.50/60 with stops building up below there whilst initial offers are noted at 103.70/80, suggesting buying on dips for a resumption of recent uptrend is favored.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
05 Sep 2016 [/B] [I]01:03GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... Reuters just reported activity in Japan's services sector slipped back into contraction in August as demand remained subdued despite a slight pick-up in new business, a private survey showed on Monday, highlighting the fragility of the economy. 

The IHS Market Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dipped to 49.6 in August from 50.4 in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction on a monthly basis.
While the decline was marginal, the reading was below the historical average and reflected a sector that was struggling for traction. The index has been darting between modest expansion and contraction since March.

The index for new business rose for the first time in three months to 50.7 from 49.7 in July, marking the sharpest increase since February.
But activity remained sluggish, prompting services firms to cut staffing for the third month in a row, albeit at a more modest pace than in July.

The services sector accounted for 70 percent of Japan’s gross domestic product in 2014.

Sustained weakness would put more pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan, which have struggled to boost the economy and beat nearly two decades of deflationationary trends despite over three years of aggressive monetary policy and fiscal spending.

The composite Japan index for output in both manufacturing and services dipped into contraction, with a reading of 49.8 compared with 50.1 in July. Manufacturing had a 18.7 percent share of the GDP in 2014.
Japan’s government is set to roll out economic stimulus featuring 13.5 trillion yen ($131 billion) in fiscal measures for public works and other spending to spur growth, though the spending will be spread over several years.

A majority of economists also expect the Bank of Japan will ease policy further later this month, a Reuters poll found, despite growing concerns in markets that its massive stimulus programme may be starting to do more harm than good.

[B]DAILY MARKET OUTLOOK on Major EUR/USD[/B]
Update Time: [B]08 Sep 2016[/B] [I] 01:21 GMT[/I]

EUR/USD - 1.1243
Euro’s anticipated marginal gain to 1.1271 yesterday confirms recent erratic fall from 1.1366 (August high) has made a low last week at 1.1123 and consolidation with mild upside is seen ahead of ECB’s monetary policy announcement ECB President Drgahi’s press conference later today.
As long as 1.1200/10 holds, gain to 1.1300/10 is likely but said August’s peak at 1.1366 should cap upside.

Below 1.1200 would confirm aforesaid rise from 1.1123 has ended and risk would shift to the downside for weakness towards 1.1140/50 later.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
12 Sep 2016[/B] [I]03:09GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... Dlr pares initial decline in Australia on Monday following a brief rise to session high of 103.06 as hawkish comments by Fed's Rosengren just ahead of NY open led to broad-based usd buying, however, mildly dovish comments in an interview with CNBC by Fed's Tarullo triggered long liquidation in the greenback, dlr retreated to 102.54 before trading sideways. 

The intra-day decline to 102.31 in Australia caused by broad-based yen buying on risk aversion was attributed to expected broad-based weakness in Asian stocks after Friday’s 2% plus decline in the Dow and S&P 500, Asian equities are in the red (N225 down 1.5%, Shanghai Comp. down 1.6% n HSI down 2.5%). Although dlr has rebounded in Asia, range trading below said Fri’s 103.06 top is expected to continue.

Offers are tipped at 102.70/80 and more above with stops above 103.10.
Some bids are noted at 102.40-30 with stops below 102.20.

Although no U.S. data are due out today, pay attention to speeches by Atlanta Fed President Lockhart (non-voting member) at 12:05GMT, then Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari (alternate voting member) n last by not least, a final-minute scheduled speech by Fed Lael Brainard (actually all eyes n ears are on her) at 17:00GMT in Chicago.
Brainard is perceived as the most dovish member of the FOMC and market reckons her speech may be intended to send final signal to the market of the Fed’s thinking of rate hike as after today, no Fed officials are allowed to make any public comments 1 week ahead of the 20-21 Sep FOMC meeting.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
14 Sep 2016[/B] [I]02:35GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... Dlr rallied in New York afternoon session on media report the BoJ is ready to step up its monetary easing measure at next week's BoJ meeting, price jumped above New York morning high of 102.43 to 102.75.  

Despite initial retreat to 102.43 on profit taking just ahead of Tokyo open, renewed broad-based selling in yen sent dlr higher to 103.20 after tripping stops above 102.80 and last week’s top of 103.06.

Having said that, dlr’s intra-day retreat suggests consolidation is in store as price has overshot to the upside even after Reuters confirmed Nikkei business daily reported that the BOJ plans to make its controversial negative interest rate policy the centrepiece of future monetary easing, promising to weigh further cuts as expansions to asset buying near their limits.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
20 Sep 2016[/B] [I]02:14GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... Dlr edges higher in subdued Asian morning. Some bargain buying is spotted by Japanese importers as Japanese financial markets reopen after yesterday's holiday, however, this week is an abbreviated week for Japanese traders as coming Thursday is another national day in Japan. 

Despite yesterday’s weakness to 101.58 in New York morning, usd’s broad-based rebound in New York afternoon suggests consolidation with upside bias is in store and one can expect a bit of dlr short-covering to take place after decline from last week’s high of 103.36 (Wednesday) to said Monday’s low ahead of the 2-day Fed as well as BoJ monetary policy meeting.

Bids have been raised to 101.80-75 and more below with stops below 101.40, however, more stops are touted below Sep’s bottom at 101.21. Offers are tipped at 102.10/15 and more above with stops reported above 102.50, suggesting buying dlr on dips is the way to go.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
26 Sep 2016 [/B] [I]02:18GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - 100.85.. Despite Friday's rebound from 100.68 (Europe) to 101.17 in New York afternoon following hawkish comments by Fed's Rosengren, dlr came under selling pressure ahead of Tokyo open on renewed cross-buyng in yen and retreated to 100.71, suggesting near term sideways trading below 101.24 (Friday's Asian high) would continue with downside bias. 

Offers are tipped at 101.00/10 and more above with stops reported above 101.30.
A mixture of bids and stops is noted at 100.70-65, however, more buying interest is touted above last week’s 100.10 low with stops reported below 100.00.

Pay attention to release of U.S. eco. data starting with new home sales at 14:00GMT n then Dallas Fed mfg business index at 14:30GMT.
Last but now least, several FOMC members are scheduled to speak later today with Fed’s Kashkari at 13:00GMT, Fed’s Tarullo at 15:45GMT and then Fed’s Kaplan at 17:30GMT.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
29 Sep 2016 [/B] [I]02:11GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ..... The pair took centre stage in Asia on Thursday. Although price traded narrowly in thin Australian morning after a rebound from New York low of 100.45, dlr jumped ahead of Tokyo morning on broad-based yen-selling as o/n sharp rse of nearly 6% in oil price following a surprise OPEC agreement to cut production boosted risk appetite. 

Dlr easily penetrated 100.99 res and rallied to as high as 101.41 in Asia after tripping a series of stops above 101.00 and then 101.30.

Expect price to maintain a firm undertone after intra-day break of 100.99 res (now sup) and bids have been raised to 101.25 and more below with some stops touted below 101.00.
Some offers are tipped at 101.40/50 and more at 101.75/80 with more stops reported above 102.00.

[B]Intra-Day Market Moving News and Views
30 Sep 2016 [/B] [I]02:18GMT[/I]

USD/JPY - ...... Just when one thought (ourselves included) to be on 'risk on' mode following dlr's impressive intra-day rally in Asia, Europe and then subsequent gain to session high of 101.84 in New York morning following mildly upbeat U.S. data, the pair tumbled due to broad-based yen-buying on risk aversion following market news some clients (funds) of the embattling Deutsche Bank have pulled extra cash out. 

Dlr fell to as low as 100.84 b4 staging a minor recovery to 101.25 in Asia.

Looks like it is risk-off day today as the antipodean currencies fell briefly below o/n New York lows, suggesting dlr/yen would be sold on recovery as yesterday’ sharp fall from 101.84 signals at least the 1st leg of correction from Tuesday’s 1-month trough at 100.09 has ended.

Offers are tipped at 100.25/35 and more above, some bids are noted at 100.95-85 with some stops below there.
However, more buying interest is reported at 100.50-40 n more below with fairly large stops building below the 100.00 mark.

There is still a slew of U.S. data due out later on this final day of the week as well as month as well as Q3 of 2016, starting with personal consumption expenditure, personal spending, personal income, then Chicago PMI and last but not least, University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.