On Friday of last week the USDJPY resumed its downward trend shortly after GMT 22:00. It was reported that the FOMC is considering whether to make an interest rate cut of 25bp or 50bp, leading to the view that a 50bp cut is more likely, to which the market reacted by selling dollars. A little while after GMT 13:30 the price hit 140.28, which was a new low for the year.

GMT 14:00 saw the announcement of preliminary U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment figures. This was a good result, coming in at 69.0 compared to an expectation of 68.5, but the market's reaction was limited. There was a move to buy the dollar but the price struggled to rise, and trading for the week ended at 140.78.

The Tokyo market is on holiday today.

As of GMT 03:00 the USDJPY was trading in the 140-yen range, with no clear direction detectable.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 03:00 on September 16), the price has fallen through the critical level of 141.68, and is walking along the lower band.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 12:30 U.S. September New York Empire State Manufacturing Index