USD/JPY extends slide toward 112.50

USD/JPY dropped further below 113.00 and bottomed at 112.55, reaching the lowest level since February 28. The pair remains near the lows as traders await the press conference between Donald Trump and Angela Merkel. 

The pair resumed the decline that started on Wednesday after the FOMC statement and projections and Yellen’s press conference. Since then it has fallen more than 200 pips. 

The US dollar failed to get support recently, from US consumer confidence data. The preliminary reading of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 97.6, above the 97.0 expected by market consensus. 

USD/JPY is consolidating important weekly losses on the week of the Federal Reserve rate hike and also when the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged. So far, it is the worst weekly performance since January. 

Technical levels 

To the upside, resistance levels might lie at 112.90 (Mar 16 low), 113.50/55 (Mar 16 & 17 high). On the downside, support levels could be seen at 112.55 (daily low), 112.00 (psychological) and 111.55 (February low).