Forex Today: USD/JPY Breaks 115

The US dollar broke above the key 115 handle against the Japanese yen to trade at a new 4-year high. There is a long-term bullish trend in favor of the USD/JPY and it is likely we will see still higher prices in this currency pair over the coming days.

The EUR/USD continues its long-term bearish trend as it falls to reach a new 1-year low price below $1.1240. Odds are in favor of lower prices here over the coming days due to the strong trend. This move is driven by enhanced euro weakness after ECB President Cristine Lagarde ruled out an ECB rate hike in 2022.

In the Forex market, the US Dollar Index has become established above key long-term resistance, breaking out to reach a new 15-month high in a significant technical move confirming the long-term bullish USD trend. As long as the former resistance area now continues to hold as support, the technical outlook will look bullish for the US dollar.

The Turkish lira fell by approximately 10% last week and again broke to a new all-time low yesterday, with USD/TRY now trading well above 11.25. We are quite likely to see some further advance in USD/TRY over the coming days, but be aware that trading this currency pair can be expensive and volatile. It is falling with very strong momentum, currently averaging about 3% per day against the US dollar.

The major US stock market index, the S&P 500, reached a new record high yesterday but quickly fell back quite sharply to settle below 4700 as US yields rose.

As the US dollar advanced yesterday, gold fell sharply in its biggest daily drop seen within the past three months to trade as low as $1802 during the New York session yesterday.

The cryptocurrency sector dipped again yesterday. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are showing a series of bearish swings.

Last week saw the fourth consecutive global weekly rise in new confirmed coronavirus cases after two months in which cases fell steadily.

It is estimated that 53.4% of the worlds population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccination.

Total confirmed new coronavirus cases worldwide stand at over 258.4 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.00%. Cases are surging in Europe and some countries, notable Austria and the Netherlands, are implementing new lockdowns.

The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Andorra, Austria, Chile, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Jordan, South Korea, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Trinidad, the USA, and Vietnam.