Yesterday the USDJPY started to rise at around GMT 23:00, reaching a high of 144.52 at about GMT 06:30, but the price then came off to trade in the 143-yen range.

Rising tension in the Middle East situation was reported shortly after GMT 13:00. This led to a shift in the market towards selling the dollar, and the USDJPY fell sharply. The price hit a low of 142.96 yen not long after GMT 14:00, but the sell-off stalled at that level and trading for the day closed at 143.55.

Today the USDJPY hit a low of 143.42 yen directly after the Tokyo open, then began to climb. It reached a high of 144.18 shortly before GMT 04:00 but then declined.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 05:05 on October 2), the Bollinger Bands are contracting and the middle line is also moving sideways, indicating the lack of a trend.

It is often the case that there is a gradual calming of trading activity ahead of the employment statistics, which are on Friday, so participants should keep this in mind as they prepare.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 12:15 U.S. September ADP employment change (MoM)