It looks like we’ve broken through the first key technical hurdle for USD/JPY on the way down, as sellers are firmly pushing price below the 100-day moving average (red line) of 147.70 today. The hawkish murmurs surrounding the BOJ continue to grow, as it seems like policymakers are teeing up a move in two weeks‘ time.

The spring wage negotiations is the key factor in play at the moment and we are likely to see some news on that on 13 March next week. That will come before the BOJ meeting on 19 March, leaving some room for policymakers to deliberate ending negative rates as early as this month.

And so, the yen is continuing to run higher as such after the BOJ got the ball rolling earlier this week.

USD/JPY is now down to 147.10 and may look to dip much further from here. The 38.2 Fib retracement level offers some minor support at 146.82 next. But I’m watching the 1 February low near 146.00 and the 200-day moving average (blue line) at 146.15 as the next big support region for the pair.

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.