On Friday of last week, the USDJPY hit a low of 154.97 yen shortly after GMT 00:30, then turned upward and remained in the upper 155 yen range until the New York session began.

Around GMT 14:30, it exceeded 156 yen, reached a high of 156.37 yen shortly after GMT 16:30, and trading for the week closed at 156.26 yen.

As a so-called "5/10 day" (a date ending in "5" or on a multiple of "10" on which Japanese companies often settle foreign exchange payments), today the USDJPY hit a high of 156.58 yen shortly after GMT 23:00 (on January 19), then turned downward, reaching a low of 155.70 yen shortly after GMT 03:30. With Trump's U.S. presidential inauguration ceremony approaching in the early hours of January 21, a wait-and-see mood pervades the market.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 03:40 on January 20), after breaking above +2 standard deviations, it turned downward, with the middle line approaching horizontal. If this continues toward -2 standard deviations, it could break below 155 yen.

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

Today, U.S. markets are closed, and no closely watched economic indicators are scheduled for release.