Just when you thought sellers might look to take further control of the pair, buyers are now putting up a solid defense to start the new year as the dollar is seeing a strong bid across the board. USD/JPY has now inched back into positive territory, bouncing off from a low of 129.50 earlier in the transition from Asia to Europe.
It's the first proper trading day of the new year and it's all about the flows more than anything else. The moves we're seeing aren't headline-driven and it is all coming as European traders and desks enter the fray.
Looking at the USD/JPY chart, the bounce is a good first step for buyers in trying to arrest the recent downtrend but there is still much more work to do. The confluence of the 100 and 200-hour moving averages is seen at 132.43-55 and that means sellers are comfortably in near-term control even if they are being rejected at the first attempt to break below 130.00 so far today.
