On Friday of last week, the USDJPY began rising around GMT 23:30 (on February 20), and after reaching a high of 150.73 around GMT 02:30, it mainly traded within the lower 150 range.

U.S. economic indicators released that evening were uniformly disappointing, leading to risk-averse dollar selling and increased expectations for additional Bank of Japan rate hikes. The USDJPY touched a low of 148.92 after GMT 19:00, and trading for the week closed at 149.24.

Today the USDJPY touched a low of 148.91 around GMT 01:00 before rebounding, reaching a high of 149.49 shortly after GMT 02:00. As of GMT 04:00, it lacks direction and is moving in the lower half of the 149-yen range.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 04:00 on February 24), the recovery after the decline has been weak, suggesting the possibility of resuming the downward Bollinger Band walk that was temporarily interrupted. With the middle line also trending downward, the downward trend appears likely to continue.

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

Today, no closely watched economic indicators are scheduled for release.