The USD/JPY currency pair on Friday pulled back off the session highs of about 142.93 to trade at about 141.85. The currency pair appears to be trading within a descending channel formation in the 60-min chart.

The pair has now pulled back to trade a few levels below the 100-hour moving average line. As a result, the currency pair appears to be about to enter 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 Friday, the US jobs data for July missed the expected tally of 200k with a tally of 187k. On the other hand, the average hourly wage growth for the period outshone the expected (MoM) change of 0.3% with a growth rate of 0.4%. The (YoY) equivalent also outperformed the expected change of 4.2% with a change of 4.4%. Elsewhere, the unemployment rate for July fell to 3.5% from 3.6% in June, beating the expected rate of 3.6%.

In Japan, the Jubun Bank Services PMI for July missed the expected reading of 53.9 with a reading of 53.8. Earlier in the week, the Jibun Bank Manufacturing PMI for the period beat the expected reading of 49.4 with a reading of 49.6. The Job Applicants Ratio for June missed the expected reading of 1.32 with a reading of 1.3, while housing starts for the month missed -0.2% with a change of -4.8%.

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-min chart. This indicates a significant short-term bearish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bears will be targeting extended declines at about 141.22 or lower at 140.68. On the other hand, the bulls will be looking to pounce on profits at about 142.41 or higher at 142.93.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the USD/JPY currency pair appears to be trading within an ascending channel formation. This indicates a significant long-term bullish bias in the market sentiment.

Therefore, the bulls will be looking to ride the current rally towards 143.86 or higher at 146.25. On the other hand, the bears will look to pounce on profits at about 139.45 or lower at 137.06.