USDJPY: Pair Struggles Near August’s Highs, But Remains Bullish

The greenback was trading broadly lower on Friday, but the USDJPY pair remained flattish as it was hovering around 111.80 during the London session.

The four-hour chart is showing a bullish momentum since last week's lows and the pair is up around 150 pips since then. Thursday's risk-on rally sent the greenback above one-month highs at 111.80, but so far the bullish breakout has been unimpressive and a pull-back occurred quickly.

Therefore, the first support for today's trading is at 111.80 and if bulls will be unable to defend it, the price could deteriorate to another stronger demand zone near 111.60/65, where the short-term bullish trend line is converged with previous highs.

As long as the USDJPY pair trades above 111.60, the immediate trend appears bullish, targeting the first important resistance of 112.00. Bullish investors will then aim at August' highs, which are located at 112.15.

US yields were also heading higher on Friday, especially the short-term ones, which could be supportive for the USDJPY pair.

XAUUSD: Gold Remains above 1,200 USD, Bears Retreating

The precious metal moved higher in the previous days and managed to capitalise on the greenback's weakness. It remains heavily oversold on longer-timeframes and - if the short-covering rally continues - bulls could push the price back to the 1,250 USD range.

From the intraday perspective, gold is now fighting for the resistance of 1,208 USD and if bulls will be stronger today, the price could accelerate toward the current swing highs region of 1,213 USD. Another selling area is at 1,216 USD, where previous lows were posted. Therefore, gold bulls may face extreme difficulty in the near future as the chart shows a cluster of resistances.

On the plus side, there is a bullish divergence between the price and the MACD indicator, which could hint at further bullish pressure. Moreover, the bullion managed to get above the short-term trendline. Therefore, the downward momentum is losing steam, suggesting bears could be slowly retreating.

On the downside, bulls need to defend the critical support of 1,200 USD. If the zone doesn't hold, the price could quickly deteriorate toward previous lows around 1,192 USD.