Why USD/JPY bulls should be cautious at these highsUSD/JPY has continued to defy gravity despite the growing threat of verbal (or actual) yen intervention by the MOF/BOJ. Yet the higher and faster it rises, so does the threat of intervention. You can see what impact it had on USD/JPY from the large bearish candle that formed on 23 October 2022, where the initial break above 150 was then met with a swift move lower and subsequent -16.3% decline over the next 2.5 months.
However, what has caught our eye today is that recent cycle highs have stalled around the 10 October high, the day a softer-than-expected US inflation report saw the US dollar plunge. There is also a volume node from the choppy price action in October at 147.1, and such HVNs can act as both a magnet to attract prices and also become support/resistance.
And given USD/JPY’s recent pattern of breaking key levels and cycle highs before reversing, we’re a little sceptical of bullish breakouts – especially with the growing threat of verbal/actual intervention. Furthermore, the US02Y-JP02Y spread has stalled just beneath its March high, so perhaps USD/JPY is at least due a pullback before it tries to break higher.
Either way, we’d prefer to buy dips over breakouts. And as for any potential pullback, we’d prefer to wait for a breakout to become a ‘fakeout’ (where prices move back below the initial breakout level) before shorting against the trend.
