Yesterday the USDJPY showed a firm trend as the yen weakened, driven by reports that the ruling party was in a strong position in the approaching weekend lower house election and Prime Minister Takaichi's remarks that could be interpreted as accepting yen weakness. It was temporarily pushed back due to disappointing January ADP employment statistics, but good results from the January ISM Services PMI led to a high of 156.94 around GMT 21:00, and trading for the day closed at that high.

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 156.98 around GMT 00:30, but failed to continue rising due to intervention concerns, and as of GMT 04:00 is moving sideways in the upper 156-yen range.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 04:20 on February 5), the upward momentum has paused and the pair is consolidating just before the 157-yen level. While the upward trend continues, if it breaks below 156.35, there could be a short-term trend change.

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

The main economic indicators for today are as follows:

• GMT 13:30 U.S. Initial jobless claims for the previous week
• GMT 13:30 U.S. Continuing jobless claims for the previous week
• GMT 15:00 U.S. December JOLTS Job Openings