The USDJPY is going nowhere. The range is only 53 pips which is well below the 22 day average of around 153 pips. Relatively speaking the price is non-trending.
That dynamic could be good and is often good as non-trending transitions to trending. Putting it another way, if the price is going nowhere, look for it to go somewhere soon.
Markets just don’t sit in a area forever. Markets are not meant to go nowhere, but are meant to go somewhere. That is how traders make money. So when the market non trends prepare for a trend. Trends are where the most money can be made (and lost if on the wrong side). Knowing that and preparing for it is an advantage to your trading. The price just needs a shove.
So what is the bias?
Looking at the hourly chart, the low today was above the high of a swing area that is centered between 134.314 and 134.587. Just below the lower extreme is the rising 100 hour moving average which is working toward that extreme. That currently comes in at 134.25.
The pairs inability to move into that range is a positive/bullish bias tilt. The problem is the pair is having trouble getting and staying above the 135.00 level. The 135.100 is also a target to get and stay above in the short-term if the buyers are to take more control and push the price toward higher targets including the 61.8% retracement of the move down from the July 14 high at 135.945. The high yesterday came in at 135.575.
The price currently trades at 135.03. Yes, the bias is a tilted toward the top above the swing area/100 hour MA, but the buyers need to get going to keep that bias intact. If not, those buyers could give up as sellers put the lid on the pair.
Let’s go traders. Give the pair a shove.