On Friday, the USD/JPY currency pair pulled back from the session highs of about 158.00 to trade at about 157.61 after the latest data. The currency pair trades within an ascending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.

The pair continues to trade slightly below the 100-hour moving average line, despite the latest pullback. As a result, the currency pair still has room left to run before reaching the oversold levels of the 14-hour RSI.

USD/JPY Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the USD/JPY currency pair trades during a relatively busy period in the US market. On Friday, the US jobs data for February missed the expectation of 59k, with -92k, down from the previous month’s equivalent of 126k. The unemployment rate for the month also fell short of the forecasted rate of 4.3%, with 4.4%, up from 4.3% in January. 

On the other hand, the average hourly earnings for February beat the (MoM) forecast of 0.3%, with a change of 0.4%. The (YoY) equivalent also outshone the estimate of 3.7%, with a change of 3.8%. Elsewhere, the retail sales for January came in better than expected, with a (MoM) change of -0.2% versus a forecast of -0.2%.

Earlier in the week, the US ISM Services PMI for February outperformed the expectation of 53.5, with a reading of 56.1. The S&P Global Composite PMI for the period missed the forecast of 52.3, with a reading of 51.9. 

The ADP employment change for the month exceeded the expectation of 50k, with a tally of 63k, up from the previous month’s equivalent of 11k. The initial jobless claims for last week came in lower than expected, with 213k versus a forecast of 215k, unchanged from the previous week.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis (the 60-min Chart)

Technically, the USD/JPY currency pair trades within an ascending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI has recently pulled back to avoid entering overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will look to extend the latest pullback towards 156.40 or lower to 155.07. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about 158.71 or higher at 159.90.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the USD/JPY currency pair trades within an ascending channel formation. The 14-day RSI has also bounced back to move closer to overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will be looking to stretch the current rally towards 161.95 or higher to 166.58. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about 152.70 or lower at 147.90.