USD/JPY plunges from 115.00 as investors prefer the Japanese yen over the greenback

• USD/JPY hit as investors raise bets on the Japanese yen over the greenback amid the risk-aversion theme.
• The DXY struggles to find any direction after the US Initial Jobless Claims surge
• Japan’s National Consumer Price Index will be under the radar for further guidance.

The USD/JPY pair has sensed selling pressure from 115.00 in the early Asian session. It seems that the pair is continuing the negative cues of Thursday. USD/JPY has been beaten hard by the bears on Thursday, as the market participants underpin the Japanese yen over the greenback after the geopolitical tensions escalate.

The rising geopolitical fears over the Russia-Ukraine tussle have raised the demand for safe-haven assets to coincide with the risk-aversion theme. Investors are nervous over the obscurity of the Russia-Ukraine fears and are banking upon defensives to combat the uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index (DXY) is trading in a limited dimension within 95.70-95.88 on weak performance from the US Initial Jobless Claims (IJC) data by the Department of Labor. The US IJC remains at 248k, well above the market estimates and the previous print has modestly diminished the highly likely hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve (Fed) in the March’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

The headlines from the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine will keep USD/JPY active as investors will continue to adjust their positions as per the developments. Adding to that, the Statistics Bureau of Japan will report yearly National Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which is likely to grind lower at 0.6% against the previous print of 0.8%.

USD/JPY Technical Analysis

On a four-hour scale, USD/JPY had slipped below Monday’s low at 115.01, which was also tested last week. This would act as a resistance for the next trading sessions and more likely the pair would establish lower. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) (14) has tumbled below 40.00, showing no signs of divergence and oversold.

USD/JPY four-hour chart