USD/JPY falls to 110 as greenback weakens on FOMC minutes
The USD/JPY pair pushed lower and renewed its daily low after the FOMC minutes triggered a broad-based USD sell-off. As of writing, the pair was trading at 110.06, losing 60 pips, or 0.55%, on the day.
According to the minutes of the Fed's last policy meeting released on Wednesday, some members of the Committee voiced their concerns over the slowdown in the inflation and argued that they needed to see more evidence of the inflation rising to the Fed's 2% target rate before deciding on the next rate hike. No specific date for the start of the balance sheet reduction was mentioned in the statement as the minutes showed that policymakers agreed that it should begin "relatively soon."
Although today's statement didn't dampen the expectations of a December rate hike, according to the CME Group FedWatch tool, the greenback remained under pressure, pushing the US Dollar Index to a fresh session low at 93.37. At the moment, the index was at 93.44, losing 0.33% on the day.
- CME Group FedWatch's December hike probability edged higher after FOMC minutes
Before the FOMC released the minutes, however, the USD was already being sold-off aggressively amid U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to end the Manufacturing Council & Strategy Policy Forum. The fact that the statement didn't offer any surprises is making it difficult for the DXY to erase its losses.
Technical outlook
A decisive break below 100 (psychological level), could open the door to 109.55 (Aug. 9 low) and 108.75 (Aug. 11 low). On the upside, short-term resistances align at 110.95/111 (daily high/psychological level), 111.50 (100-DMA) and 112.30 (200-DMA).