USDJPY jumps to 104.00 neighborhood after jobless claims

The USD/JPY pair extended its near-term upward trajectory for the eight straight session and has now risen to a fresh 4-week high level ahead of NY opening after US weekly jobless claims data.

Currently trading at a fresh session high level of 103.90, the pair got a boost after US initial jobless claims fall 5,000 to 249K from last week's 254K and was lower-than 256K expected. After initially seesawing between tepid gains and minor losses, the pair broke on the upside and is now trading above 100-day SMA for the first time since late January. 

A broadly stronger greenback, led by increasing prospects of an eventual Fed rate-hike move in December, has been the sole driver of the pair's upward trajectory from the vicinity of 100.00 psychological mark touched in the previous week. 

Looking ahead, Friday's release of US monthly jobs report remains a key determinant of the pair's next leg of move from current levels. 

Technical outlook

Omkar Godbole, Analyst and Editor at FXStreet, notes, "Pair’s seven-day winning streak has led to overbought RSI conditions on the hourly and 4-hr chart, which suggests a corrective move to 103.27 (daily pivot) and 102.86 (daily pivot S1) could be seen before 100-DMA hurdle of 103.67 is breached for September high of 104.32 levels."

"Bulls have little reason to worry unless we see a daily close today below 5-DMA level of 102.56 as such a move would suggest a short-term top is in place."