AUD/JPY holding ground above 98.00 ahead of Aussie Retail Sales

• The AUD/JPY is sticking close to the midrange after getting pulled in both directions.
• The Aussie remains down against the Yen about three-tenths of a percent on Monday.
• Tuesday sees Australian Retail Sales figures, as well as an appearance from RBA Governor Bullock.

The AUD/JPY pair is drifting in the midrange after setting both the high and the low of the day in early Monday trading, dipping into 97.81 at the starting bell before rallying back into a Monday high of 98.49.

The pair is currently adrift just above the 98.00 handle, down 0.3% from Monday’s peak as Aussie (AUD) traders gear up for Australian Retail Sales data and a speaking engagement from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) has seen some recovery across the board on Monday, but long-term bear pressure on the Yen is expected to continue as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) continues to court a hyper-easy monetary policy stance. The BoJ fears that inflation within Japan’s domestic economy will waiver below the Japanese central bank’s 2% target.

Australian Retail Sales for October are expected to slow down from 0.9% to 0.1% as Australians grapple with sticky inflation eating away at their purchasing power.

RBA Governor Michele Bullock will be taking part in a panel discussion labeled “Inflation, Financial Stability and Employment” at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank for International Settlements High-Level Conference in Hong Kong early Tuesday.

AUD/JPY Technical Outlook

The Aussie is seeing a firming-up in the overall FX marketspace, up against everything except the rebounding Yen, and the AUD/JPY is getting hung up on the 50-hour Simple Moving Average (SMA).

Intraday action continues to find support from the 200-hour SMA just north of 97.70, and the AUD/JPY pair is also seeing technical resistance at last turnaround near 98.50.

The pair remains firmly buried in bull country, trading close to its highest bids for the year, with 2023’s peak sitting nearby at 98.66 and daily candles seeing technical support from the 50-day SMA scrambling to catch up to price action near the 96.00 handle.

AUD/JPY Hourly Chart

AUD/JPY Daily Chart

AUD/JPY Technical Levels