As of Wednesday's close, USDJPY trades at 162.188. That is up about 31 pips from Monday's open of 161.876. The week's high sits at 162.48, printed Monday, and the low is 161.675, set during Tuesday's session. Price has drifted into a narrow band since the open, closing Wednesday exactly where it started the day.
The move higher came early and then stalled. Monday's rally carried the pair from 161.876 to a 162.48 high before Tuesday pulled it back to 162.188. On Wednesday, the PBOC set its USD/CNY mid-point firmer than the Reuters estimate, and a stronger fixing tends to cap broad dollar strength across Asian hours. USDJPY reflected that by holding flat rather than extending Monday's gains.
The bundle carries no scheduled high-impact events for the back half of this week, so price action from here leans on flow and headlines rather than a data catalyst. Watch the daily PBOC fixings as the read on dollar tone through Asian sessions. If subsequent fixings come in stronger than estimate again, the dollar bid that stalled midweek stays capped. If fixings soften, USDJPY has room to retest Monday's high. The same yen sensitivity shows up in GBP/JPY, worth a glance for confirmation of any broad yen move.
As of Wednesday morning, positioning is close to balanced. Longs sit at 49.4 percent and shorts at 50.6 percent. That marginal short skew tells you consensus midweek is not committed in either direction. With the crowd this evenly split, the pair is more likely to react to the next headline than to lean on a positioning bias.
The battle is around 162.00, the round number just below Wednesday's close. If USDJPY holds above 162.00, the 162.48 weekly high is the next reference on any push higher. If it loses 162.00 on a stronger fixing or a fresh yen bid, Tuesday's 161.675 low is back in play. You can track both levels and the daily fixings on your LHFX account as the week's final sessions unfold.
Byline: LHFX Research
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