It's tough to get a grip on the yen at the moment as there doesn't seem to be too strong a conviction on either side. Yen bulls were thwarted by the BOJ last week and while they seem to try and get stuck back in there, price action has been choppy and we are seeing a push back above 130.00 again this week.
That said, they are still keeping in a good spot if you go by the technicals as the key trendline resistance (white line) is still holding and we are still caught in a series of lower highs, lower lows at the moment:
That will continue to define the limits of price movements in USD/JPY unless buyers can break above the key trendline resistance, which rests around 131.20 currently.
At the same time, do keep an eye out on the JGB market if you're watching the yen. 10-year JGB yields might have fallen off from the 0.50% ceiling after the BOJ action last week but we are seeing a pause with yields climbing back up to 0.43% today:
The selling pressure on Japanese government bonds may sort of act as a proxy indicator for yen sentiment, if anything else. And if we do move closer towards 0.50%, it could be suggestive that broader markets are still largely eyeing an imminent policy change by the BOJ later this year - something that will be yen bullish.
