USD/JPY surges past 109.00 handle on surprisingly positive US data

The USD/JPY pair shot-up to a fresh two-week high level of 109.45 on surprisingly positive US retail sales data.

The pair saw renewed buying interest after the release of US retails sales data that showed an unexpected month-on-month growth of 1.3%, surpassing the most optimistic estimates. The core figure also printed better-than-expected monthly growth of 0.8%, also better 0.4% growth recorded in March.

The report could certainly provide some near-term boost for the greenback, but with the recent slowdown witnessed in the US labor market it is still not enough to confirm a Fed rate-hike announcement in June.

Immediately after the release, the pair managed to erase initial loss and advance to the mid-point of 109.00-110.00 handle before retracing few pips to currently trade near 109.20, still above 109.00 handle.

Technical levels to watch

Bulls would like to see a follow through buying interest above 109.45-50 resistance in order to assist the pair back above 110.00 handle towards testing 50-day SMA resistance near 110.40-45 region.

On the flip side, weakness below 109.00 handle might now be bought into till 20-day SMA support near 108.80 level. Only a decisive drop back below 20-day SMA might negate the bullish bias.