AUD/JPY Price Forecast: Constructive bias prevails above 113.00, but neutral RSI spurs consolidation
- AUD/JPY edges lower to near 113.25 in Wednesday’s early European session.
- BoJ hiked interest rates by 25 bps to 1.00%, while RBA held rates steady at 4.35% at their June policy meeting.
- The cross keeps bullish vibe, but further consolidation cannot be ruled out in the near term with neutral RSI momentum.
- The first upside barrier emerges at 113.58; the initial downside target to watch is 113.23.
The AUD/JPY cross trades in negative territory around 113.25 during the early European session on Wednesday. The Japanese Yen (JPY) edges higher against the Australian Dollar (AUD) after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised interest rates to their highest level in more than three decades.
The BoJ decided to raise the short-term interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 1.0% from 0.75% after concluding the two-day monetary policy review meeting on Tuesday, as widely expected.
According to the Monetary Policy Statement, the board member will continue to increase the policy rate in response to developments in economic activity, prices and financial conditions.
On the other hand, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) decided to leave the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 4.35% after its June monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. This is a pause following three consecutive 25 basis points (bps) rate hikes earlier this year. Despite leaving the interest rate unchanged, the board members signaled that further rate hikes might be necessary to achieve its goals.
Technical Analysis:
In the daily chart, AUD/JPY holds a constructive bias as spot remains above the 100-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) while pressing into the Bollinger Bands’ upper half. The 14-period Relative Strength Index (RSI) around 48 hints at consolidative rather than overbought conditions, suggesting any pullbacks could stay contained above underlying trend support.
On the topside, a sustained break over the Bollinger SMA middle band at 113.58 would open the door toward the Bollinger upper band resistance near 114.90. On the downside, initial support aligns with the recent pivot zone around 113.23, followed by the Bollinger lower band at 112.25 and then the 100-day SMA near 112.00, where a deeper retreat would need to find buyers to maintain the prevailing upward bias.
(The technical analysis of this story was written with the help of an AI tool.)
Japanese Yen FAQs
The Japanese Yen (JPY) is one of the world’s most traded currencies. Its value is broadly determined by the performance of the Japanese economy, but more specifically by the Bank of Japan’s policy, the differential between Japanese and US bond yields, or risk sentiment among traders, among other factors.
One of the Bank of Japan’s mandates is currency control, so its moves are key for the Yen. The BoJ has directly intervened in currency markets sometimes, generally to lower the value of the Yen, although it refrains from doing it often due to political concerns of its main trading partners. The BoJ ultra-loose monetary policy between 2013 and 2024 caused the Yen to depreciate against its main currency peers due to an increasing policy divergence between the Bank of Japan and other main central banks. More recently, the gradually unwinding of this ultra-loose policy has given some support to the Yen.
Over the last decade, the BoJ’s stance of sticking to ultra-loose monetary policy has led to a widening policy divergence with other central banks, particularly with the US Federal Reserve. This supported a widening of the differential between the 10-year US and Japanese bonds, which favored the US Dollar against the Japanese Yen. The BoJ decision in 2024 to gradually abandon the ultra-loose policy, coupled with interest-rate cuts in other major central banks, is narrowing this differential.
The Japanese Yen is often seen as a safe-haven investment. This means that in times of market stress, investors are more likely to put their money in the Japanese currency due to its supposed reliability and stability. Turbulent times are likely to strengthen the Yen’s value against other currencies seen as more risky to invest in.
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