Yesterday the USDJPY maintained a broadly firm tone throughout the session. News that the U.S. Federal Reserve conducted a rate check on USDJPY in January briefly triggered yen buying, but the pair went on to hit a high of 154.87 shortly after GMT 19:00, and trading for the day closed at 154.78 yen.

Today the USDJPY has seen broad yen weakness re-emerge on renewed focus on Prime Minister Takaichi's "responsible proactive fiscal policy." It reached a high of 155.29 shortly after GMT 04:00 and as of GMT 05:00 is trading in the lower 155-yen range.

Looking at the 1-hour chart of the USDJPY (as of GMT 04:30 on February 19), the pair continues to trend higher on this timeframe, pulling back before pushing higher. The upward trend appears likely to continue as long as the pair doesn't break below 154.62 yen.

(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 13:30 U.S. February Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index
• GMT 13:30 U.S. December Trade balance
• GMT 15:00 U.S. January Pending Home Sales
• GMT 15:00 U.S. January Leading Index