Nikkei and JPY remain choppy led by JGB s ahead of NFP s

The JPY remains the highlight with the FT highlighting the aggressive moves with a headline ‘BoJ follows the Fed, on steroids’. The start of the Asian session saw USD/JPY break the 96.40 level and quickly trade a fresh high of 97.20 as the Nikkei rallied up 4.5% but as rumours circulated of increased margin requirements on JGB futures triggering a circuit breaker, USD/JPY swiftly reversed it gains trading sub 96.00 as European traders arrived at their desks with large a AUD/JPY flow being touted in the market.

The JPY aside the rest of the G10 FX space remains subdued following what I can only describe as pre NFP short squeeze in the euro as the single currency rallied from 1.2744 to 1.2953 following a dovish ECB president with highlights being, ‘we remain accommodative’ acknowledging the weak data and expressing concern re bank lending although he suggested that the ECB were running out of ideas how to encourage it. Err rate cut maybe?

We see German retail sales and factory orders this morning but all the focus will be on the US jobs report this afternoon with the Bloomberg consensus edging down 9k to 190k following a weaker ADP report on Wednesday and a higher jobless claims count yesterday with the unemployment rate looking to hold steady at 7.7%. although analyst are sighting season factors for these readings this week.

EUR/USD

Supports 1.2850-1.2740-1.2660 | Resistance 1.2950-1.2980-1.3050

USD/JPY

Supports 95.80-95.20-95.00 | Resistance 96.60-97.20-97.80

GBP/USD

Supports 1.5180-1.5100-1.5025 | Resistance 1.5250-1.5350-1.5400