Yesterday the USDJPY set a low of 150.97 directly after the open and began to move upward, hitting 152 yen shortly after GMT 04:30 and breaking above 153 yen some time after GMT 11:30.

Immediately after the New York session began the price reached a high of 153.18, stalled, then reversed. After falling through the middle of the 152-yen range shortly after GMT 18:00, the price started to recover, and trading for the day closed at 152.75.

Today the USDJPY chart shows the price hitting 152.82 yen around GMT 22:00, then fluctuating as the market trended down. After Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiko Aoki made statements that pushed the market towards a weaker yen, the USDJPY was trading in the lower half of the 152-yen range some time after GMT 04:30.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 03:30 on October 24), the angle of the middle line is approaching the horizontal and the bands that had been widening are now contracting, indicating that the market has become trendless over the period shown.

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

Today's main economic indicators are as follows.

• GMT 12:30 U.S. Initial jobless claims for the previous week
• GMT 12:30 U.S. Continuing jobless claims for the previous week
• GMT 13:45 U.S. October Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 13:45 U.S. October Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 13:45 U.S. October Composite Purchasing Managers Index (PMI, preliminary)
• GMT 14:00 U.S. September New home sales