On Thursday, the USD/JPY currency pair pulled back off the session highs of about 150.94 to trade at about 149.30. The currency pair trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. 

The pair has now plummeted to trade several levels below the 100-hour moving average line. As a result, the currency pair has moved back closer to 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 both markets. On Thursday, the US initial jobless claims for last week missed the forecasted claim count of 236k with a significantly higher tally of 249k. US nonfarm productivity for Q2 outshone the expectation of 1.7% with a change of 2.3%, while unit labour costs fell short of 1.8% with a change of 0.9%.

The ISM Manufacturing PMI for June also missed the expectation of 48.8 with a reading of 46.8. On the other hand, the ISM Manufacturing Prices Paid beat the forecast of 51.8 with 52.9, while the ISM Manufacturing Employment Index missed 49 with 43.4.

In Japan, the Bank of Japan raised the base interest rate by 15 basis points to 0.15%, up from 0%. Analysts were expecting the BoJ to keep the base interest rate unchanged from the previous period. Elsewhere, Japanese retail sales for June exceeded expectations of 3.3% with a change of 3.7% (YoY), up from 2.8% in May, while large retail sales also experienced a growth rate of 7% (YoY), versus 4% in the previous month. 

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

Technically, the USD/JPY currency pair trades within a descending channel formation in the 60-minute chart. The 14-hour RSI has also pulled back to move closer to the oversold conditions.

Therefore, the bears will be looking to extend the current decline toward 148.51 or lower to 147.72. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on profits at about 150.14 or higher at 150.94.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis (the Daily Chart)

In the daily chart, the USD/JPY currency pair trades within a sharply descending channel formation. The 14-day RSI has also pulled back to trade deep into the oversold conditions of the indicator.

Therefore, the bears will be targeting long-term declines at about 146.39 or lower at 143.83. On the other hand, the bulls will look to pounce on rebounds at about 152.02 or higher at 154.56.