The USD/JPY pair fell back after hitting a new year-to-date peak around the 148.45 region during the Asian session this Thursday, despite lacking further upside momentum and struggling to hold above the daily bottom. Spot prices are currently trading around the 148.25 region, down less than 0.10% on the day and appear poised to rise further.
Amid the recent breakout through the strong horizontal barrier of 146.50-146.60, sustained overnight strength and a daily close above the 148.00 mark could be seen as fresh triggers for traders. price increase transaction. The positive outlook for the USD/JPY pair is underpinned by the underlying bullish sentiment surrounding the US Dollar (USD), reinforced by the Federal Reserve's (Fed) hawkish outlook.
Meanwhile, technical indicators on the daily chart are stabilizing in positive territory and remain far from overbought territory. This, in turn, favors bullish traders and suggests that the path of least resistance for USD/JPY is to the upside. Therefore, any meaningful corrective decline below the 148.00 round figure could still be viewed as a buying opportunity near the 147.70-147.65 area.
This is followed by a weekly bottom, around the mid-147.00s, which if broken decisively could prompt some technical selling and pull USD/JPY back towards the 147.00 round figure. . Spot prices could then slide to the 146.50 horizontal support level before falling to last week's low or below 146.00.
On the other hand, the bulls may now wait for some further strength beyond the 148.45 area or the daily high before placing fresh bets. The next upside move is likely to lift the USD/JPY pair towards the next relevant hurdle near the 148.80-148.85 area en route to the 149.00 round figure. Momentum could extend further to the 149.70 area, above which spot prices could aim to reclaim the psychological 150.00 mark for the first time since October 2022.