Yesterday the USDJPY began rising at around GMT 03:00, hitting a high of 158.22 not long after GMT 08:00.

U.S. retail sales announced yesterday came in at 0.1% month on month compared to a forecast of 0.2%, while retail sales excluding autos were -0.1% month on month against a forecast of 0.2%.

During the first part of today's Tokyo session, the USDJPY traded with little energy in the upper half of the 157-yen range. Because the U.S. market is on holiday and because there are no closely watched economic indicators scheduled, it is possible that volatility will remain low.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 03:40 on June 19), we can see that the price is rising gradually after a deep pullback.

(20-period Bollinger Band, showing ±1 and ±2 standard deviations)

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 14:00 U.S. June NAHB Housing Market Index