After the previous attempt to get above 158.00 stalled on Friday last week, dip buyers are showing up once again to test the figure level today. The slight bounce in bond yields this week is helping with that at least. But traders are not really showing much respect to BOJ governor Ueda's remarks earlier in the day.
He delivered a bit of a warning here, stating that the BOJ may very well still hike rates again in July. I find a statement like that hard to ignore but USD/JPY traders are definitely not heeding that warning - for now at least.
Looking at the technicals, a firm push back above 158.00 should give dip buyers more impetus. That being said, we are hovering close to intervention territory so the risk-reward for further gains is rather questionable at this stage.
Coming up next, the US retail sales data later today will be one to watch in impacting the pair further today.
