USD/JPY eases to 100.60 on US data, eyes on Yellen

The greenback has deflated from session highs vs. its Japanese counterpart today, dragging USD/JPY to the 100.60 area.

USD/JPY upside capped near 100.80 ahead of Fedspeak

The pair remains within a narrow range today, coming down from earlier tops near 100.80 after US Durable Goods Orders have come in flat during August vs. a forecasted drop of 1.4%. In the same direction, Orders stripping the Transportation sector have contracted 0.4% inter-month, matching estimates.

In the meantime, spot keeps the sideline pattern for the time being, finding quite decent support around the psychological handle at 100.00 the figure and advancing for the second session in a row, albeit with small gains.

Later in the NA session, USD will take centre stage, as Chair J.Yellen is due to testify before the House Panel ahead of speeches by St. Louis Fed J.Bullard (voter, neutral), Chicago Fed C.Evans (voter 2017, dovish) and Cleveland Fed L.Mester (voter, hawkish and one of the triple dissenters at the last FOMC meeting).

According to the latest CFTC report, speculative JPY net longs have climbed to 3-week tops although Open Interest retreated by 30K during the week ended on September 20.

USD/JPY levels to consider

As of writing the pair is gaining 0.17% at 100.59 and a breakout of 101.24 (high Sep.23) would aim for 101.90 (20-day sma) and then 103.36 (high Sep.14). On the other hand, the next support is located at 100.07 (low Sep.22) ahead of 99.53 (low Aug.16) and then 99.08 (low Jun.24).