Yesterday the USDJPY lacked direction, with the market confined to the 153-154 range. Market participants may have put off active trading due partly to it being the start of the week and partly due to the absence of compelling economic events.

Today the USDJPY hit a low of 153.61 shortly after GMT 00:00, but then reversed direction to break above the high of the previous day. Not longer after GMT 05:00 the market was trading in the area of 154.40 yen.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 05:05 on July 30), the price has broken above the +2 standard deviation of the Bollinger Band, and buying pressure appears to be strong going forward.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 14:00 U.S. June JOLTS Job Openings
• GMT 14:00 U.S. July Consumer Confidence Index (Conference Board)