The buck is still slowly creeping higher
The dollar is looking very strong in the first full day of the new year. USDJPY is inching its way higher with no real signs of a pullback.
The Dec 15th high at 118.64 is the target here and that high came the day after the FOMC. So far the pattern looks exactly like a bout of profit taking after the FOMC and a general squaring into and over the holiday period, and now we're seeing those positions put back on.
USDJPY daily chart
118.00/10, 117.75/80, 117.50/60 would be the support levels to watch on any dips.
Yesterday I said today would be a good indication on whether the dollar would get back on the bullish train and so far that's playing out. At the moment we still need more pieces of the puzzle as these first few days of the new year can always be a settling in period. We'll need to see how US traders set their stalls out shortly and also keep an eye out for the London fix later. Just as we see action at month/quarter/year ends, we can see similar action in the new periods too.
