USD/JPY Price Analysis: Sticks to modest gains around mid-150.00s, looks to Fed’s Powell

• USD/JPY gains traction for the third straight day, albeit lacks follow-through buying.
• Traders seem reluctant and look to Fed Chair Powell’s speech for a fresh impetus.
• The technical setup supports prospects for a further appreciating move for the pair.

The USD/JPY pair trades with a positive bias for the third straight day on Wednesday and is currently placed near mid-150.00s, just below the weekly high touched the previous day.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) continues with its relative underperformance in the wake of a more dovish stance adopted by the Bank of Japan (BoJ), which, in turn, is seen acting as a tailwind for the USD/JPY pair. The US Dollar (USD), on the other hand, stalls its goodish recovery move from a multi-week low touched on Monday and caps the upside for the major. Furthermore, traders opt to remain on the sidelines ahead of Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell's speech later during the early North American session.

From a technical perspective, the USD/JPY pair showed some resilience below the 200-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) on the 4-hour chart earlier this week. The subsequent move up and the divergent BoJ-Fed policy outlook favours bullish traders. Moreover, oscillators on daily/4-hourly charts are holding in the positive territory, suggesting that the path of least resistance for spot prices is to the upside. Hence, some follow-through strength, back towards reclaiming the 151.00 mark,  looks like a distinct possibility.

The momentum could get extended further towards retesting the YTD peak, around the 151.70 area, en route to the 152.00 neighbourhood, or a multi-decade high touched in October 2022.

On the flip side, the 150.00 psychological mark, which now coincides with the 100-period SMA on the 4-hour chart, now seems to protect the immediate downside. The said handle might also act as a key pivotal point for short-term traders, which if broken decisively could drag the USD/JPY pair back towards the 200-period SMA on the 4-hour chart, currently pegged near the 149.55 area. Some follow-through selling will be seen as a fresh trigger for bearish traders and pave the way for some meaningful depreciating move.

USD/JPY 4-hour chart

Technical levels to watch