A bout of risk-taking dragged the safe-haven yen lower across the board.
Will the intraweek trend result in AUD/JPY retesting higher areas of interest?
Before moving on, ICYMI, yesterday’s watchlist checked out AUD/USD’s short-term wedge for a potential breakout. Be sure to check out if it’s still a valid play!
And now for the headlines that rocked the markets in the last trading sessions:
Upcoming Potential Catalysts on the Forex Economic Calendar:
China to make cybersecurity reviews compulsory for data-heavy firms seeking overseas IPOs
UK’s BRC showed Dec prices up by 0.8% vs last year, the highest since Mar 2019
China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI up from 49.9 to 50.9 in November
Japan’s manufacturing PMI down from 54.5 to 54.3 in December
Indonesia’s sudden coal export ban hits mining shares
China partially locks down port city of Ningbo after rise of COVID-19 cases
USD hits one-month high vs JPY as Fed rate bets lift US yields
German retail sales unexpectedly rises by 0.6% in Nov vs. 0.5% dip expected
Upcoming Potential Catalysts on the Forex Economic Calendar:
Spain’s unemployment change at 8:00 am GMT
Germany’s unemployment change at 8:55 am GMT
U.K.’s mortgage approvals and net individual lending at 9:30 am GMT
Canada’s manufacturing PMI at 2:30 pm GMT
U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI at 3:00 pm GMT
U.S. JOLTS job openings at 3:00 pm GMT
AU ANZ job ads at 12:30 am GMT (Jan 5)
Japan’s consumer confidence at 5:00 am GMT (Jan 5)
If you’re not familiar with the forex market’s main trading sessions, check out our Forex Market Hours tool.
What to Watch: AUD/JPY
Yen traders legit said “yeah, no” to the safe haven as traders from around the world go back to their trading desks.
USD/JPY was a favorite ahead of the FOMC meeting minutes that will remind everyone that the Fed is on a tapering (and maybe tightening) schedule this year.
AUD/JPY also saw some buying action, bouncing from the 200 simple moving average to reach the 83.50 minor psychological handle.
Will today’s headlines push AUD/JPY higher?
Uncle Sam is printing its ISM manufacturing PMI but it’s more likely that traders will price in broader market themes like U.S. Treasury yields and expectations of more reopenings among the major economies.
An upside breakout from AUD/JPY’s short-term consolidation could lead to a retest of December’s highs or a revisit of the 84.00 area of interest.
Focus on global growth concerns, on the other hand, or rejection at AUD/JPY’s current prices could drag the Aussie back down to the 200 SMA levels.
