The USD/JPY currency pair on Thursday bounced off the key support at about 145.82 to trade at about 146.47. The currency pair continues to trade within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart.

The pair has now descended to trade a few levels below the 100-hour moving average line. Thursday’s late rebound prevented the currency pair from falling into the oversold levels of the 14-hour RSI.

USD/JPY Fundamentals Overview

From a fundamental perspective, the USD/JPY currency pair is trading at the back of a relatively busy period in both markets. On Thursday, the initial jobless claims for the week ending January 26 missed the expectation of 212k with a claim count of 224k.

The preliminary unit labour costs for Q4 also fell short of 1.7% with a change of 0.5%, while nonfarm productivity for the quarter beat the expected change of 2.5% with a change of 3.2%. Construction spending for December also exceeded the forecasted (MoM) change of 0.5% with a change of 0.9%.

Elsewhere, the ISM Manufacturing PMI for January outperformed the expectation of 47 with a reading of 49.1. The ISM Manufacturing Prices Paid for the period also outshone the estimate of 46.9 with a reading of 52.9. Earlier in the week, the US Federal Reserve decided to keep the base interest rate unchanged at 5.5%.

The ADP employment change for January missed the expected change of 145k with a change of 107k, while the employment cost index for Q4 fell short of 1% with a change of 0.9%.

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

Technically, the USD/JPY currency pair appears to be trading within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. However, the 14-hour RSI seems to have bounded back to avoid falling into oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bulls will be targeting extended rebounds at about 147.16 or higher at 147.77. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on declines at about 145.82 or lower at 145.13.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the USD/JPY currency pair appears to have recently completed a downward breakout from an ascending channel formation. The 14-day RSI also seems to support a downward movement after rejecting entry into overbought conditions.

Therefore, the bears will be targeting extended pullbacks at about 143.94 or lower at 141.13. On the other hand, the bulls will be targeting long-term profits at about 149.30 or higher at 151.74.