USD/JPY drops to near 150.00 as USD Index falls ahead of US Retail Sales data

• USD/JPY corrects to near 150.00 as USD Index edges down.
• The US Retail Sales are forecasted to contract by 0.1% in January.
• The Japanese economy has entered a technical recession after contracting in the last two quarters of 2023.

The USD/JPY extends its correction to near the psychological support of 150.00 in Thursday’s European session. The asset has come under pressure as the US Dollar Index (DXY) and bond yields have dropped ahead of January's United States Retail Sales data.

S&P500 futures have posted decent gains in the London session, indicating a revival in the risk appetite of the market participants. The broader market outlook is still uncertain as investors pare bets in favor of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) for the May monetary policy meeting.

The Fed's expectations for a rate-cut move have shifted for the June meeting as the consumer price inflation for January remained hotter than expected. Contrary, Chicago Fed Bank President Austan Goolsbee said on Wednesday that one bad inflation data is insufficient to impact the broader trend, which indicates that price pressures are coming down to the 2% target. Austan Goolsbee warned that a hawkish narrative for a more extended period could dampen the labor market conditions.

The US Dollar Index (DXY) has corrected to near 104.60 from a three-month high of 105.00. Going forward, investors will focus on the US Retail Sales data, which will be published at 13:30 GMT. According to the consensus, Retail Sales were contracted by 0.1%.

On the Tokyo front, the Japanese Yen strengthens despite investors' hope that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will not exit the expansionary policy stance soon. The expectations of easy policy unwinding have waned as the Japanese economy has surprisingly entered into a technical recession. The Q4 GDP contracted by 0.1%, while investors forecasted an expansion of 0.3%.