Japanese Yen extends range trade, little changed after BoJ's status quo

Chart - Courtesy Trading View

USD/JPY was trading rangebound for the third straight session, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy decision has little impact.

The Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged on Thursday, as expected, and slightly raised its inflation forecasts.

The BOJ kept interest rates unchanged at -10 basis points (bps) and maintained commitment to buy Japan’s Government Bonds (JGB) at an annual pace of around 80 trillion yen.

US June Existing Home Sales dropped for the fifth consecutive month on Wednesday to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12 million versus 5.38M expected and 5.41M prior.

At the post-monetary policy decision press conference, BoJ Chief Haruhiko Kuroda maintained the central bank will ease monetary policy further if required.

On the other side, investors have scaled back bets on a 100 bps rate hike from the Federal Reserve next week, with a 75 bps hike now seen most likely.

USD/JPY major trend remains bullish. Strong support is seen at 21-EMA at 136.69. Weakness only on break below.