• USD/JPY leaps past the 140.00 mark, despite US economic data suggesting a potential Fed rate hike.
• Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki encourages market-determined currency rates, stating that he’s closely monitoring exchange-rate movements.
• USD/JPY, poised to challenge 142.00 once it clears 141.00, finds support at 139.89/140.00, with a deeper fallback to 137.26.

USD/JPY rallied sharply past the 140.00 figure on Friday late in the New York session, after traveling towards its daily low of 139.49, before making a U-turn. Solid economic data from the United States (US) bolstered the odds for another rate hike by the Federal Reserve (Fed), as shown by the market reaction. US Treasury bond yields rose before reversing their course, while the US Dollar weakened. At the time of writing, the USD/JPY is trading at 140.60.

USD/JPY Price Analysis: Technical outlook

After hitting a new year-to-date (YTD) high of 140.72, the USD/JPY retraced somewhat but remains upward biased. Once the USD/JPY cracked the November 30 swing high of 139.89, buyers piled in to break the 140.00 figure despite Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki saying that markets should set currency rates based on economic fundamentals. He stated that he’s watching exchange-rate moves closely.

During Friday’s session, USD/JPY continued and extended its gains, but the pair lost momentum as the New York session began to wind down. However, if USD/JPY extends its gains past 141.00, the next resistance would be the 142.00 figure, ahead of testing the November 22 High at 142.24.

Conversely, the USD/JPY first support would be the 140.00 mark, ahead of falling to November 30 previous resistance turned support at 139.89. A dip below could clear the way for the pair to fall toward December 15 daily high at 138.17 before reaching the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) At 137.26.