Mr. Ueda's change in tone today is making a difference, with USD/JPY dropping about 100 pips at his press conference. The pair was initially close to the 148.00 mark, but is now trading closer to 147.00 as Mr. Ueda is expected to launch his policy in March or April next year.
USD/JPY hourly chart
As you can see from the chart above, the pair is currently closing in on a test of the next 200-hour moving average (blue line) at 146.88. At the same time, sellers also want to maintain the level below the 100-day moving average of 147.50 yen on this day. This would be a major technical blow to the pair's recent upward momentum to begin the year.
As USD/JPY depreciates, it is also affecting the dollar's overall performance at the moment. On the day, EUR/USD rose 0.3% to 1.0913, while USD/CHF fell 0.5% to 0.8650. Meanwhile, Antipodean currencies are currently extending their early gains, with AUD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6610 and NZD/USD up 0.6% to 0.6114.
