Yesterday the USDJPY continued falling at a steady pace, with the downward trend being maintained throughout the day. Just before the close it hit a low of 155.53 yen.

Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshimitsu Motegi may have played a part in this stronger yen through comments he made to the effect that the Bank of Japan should more clearly show its intention to normalize monetary policy.

Today the USDJPY hit a high of 155.99 shortly after GMT 00:30, but despite that it failed to reach the 156-yen level, and began falling back.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 03:10 on July 24), the overall picture is one of long down bars and short up bars. The down bars are also appearing more frequently, which is a typical downtrend pattern.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 13:45 U.S. July Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 13:45 U.S. July Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 13:45 U.S. July Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 14:00 U.S. June New home sales (seasonally adjusted annual rate)
• GMT 14:00 U.S. June New home sales (MoM)