Yesterday the USDJPY bounced off a low of 148.50 at around GMT 01:30 and then began to rise.

The closely watched U.S. ISM Manufacturing PMI, for which July figures were announced yesterday, undershot expectations by coming in at 46.8 against a forecast of 48.8.

Today the USDJPY lacked direction, with the market mostly confined to the 149-yen range.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 06:15 on August 2), the upper and lower Bollinger Bands are tightening, showing that volatility is on a declining trend.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 12:30 U.S. July Nonfarm payrolls (MoM)
• GMT 12:30 U.S. July Unemployment rate
• GMT 12:30 U.S. July Average hourly earnings (MoM)
• GMT 12:30 U.S. July Average hourly earnings (YoY)
• GMT 14:00 U.S. June Factory Orders (MoM)

With the closely watched employment statistics looming ahead of us the market may stay in wait-and-see mode, with limited price movement, until the figures are announced.