USD/JPY trapped as buyers and sellers battle it out still

USD/JPY moves between 110.00 to 110.50 today

Yesterday, key levels around the 110.00 handle and large expiries proved to be a major sticking point for the pair. And in trading today those same levels came into play early in Asian trading when the dollar moved lower against the yen on the back of the whole Cohen-Manafort-Trump debacle.

The lows today touched 110.03 before bouncing back higher. Around the figure level, buyers can lean on bids at 110.00, the 100-day MA (red line) @ 110.05, and the 200-day MA (blue line) @ 109.85 for support. And the cluster of key levels there is proving to be a tough area for sellers to break below despite near-term bias favouring them still:

Sellers kept price below the 100-hour MA (red line) in trading today - as they did overnight - and that retains the near-term bearish bias in the pair. The 100-hour MA now sits at 110.50 and there is also added resistance in nearby from the February high to boot. Those two levels are proving to be a tough spot for buyers to break above.

While the levels mentioned above are the key levels that sellers have been struggling to break below. That continues to keep USD/JPY stuck in between a 110.00-50 trading range for the past two days. There are also decent-sized expiries rolling off today that may come into play amid thinner liquidity in markets. Something to take note of.

But in terms of trades, there needs to be a firm breakout before the next trend is set into motion. Otherwise, ping pong trading is the name of the game.