USD/JPY faces pressure near 150.00 as US Dollar’s rally halts

USD/JPY encounters offers near 150.00 as the US Dollar struggles to extend its upside further.
Traders priced out the Fed's larger-than-usual size of 50 bps interest rate cut in November.
Japan’s National core CPI accelerated to 2.1% in September.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The USD/JPY pair faces selling pressure near the psychological resistance of 150.00 in Friday’s North American session. The asset drops as the three-week rally in the US Dollar (USD) appears to have halted, however, its outlook remains upbeat. The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, declines from the 10-week high of 103.90 to near 103.50.

Market sentiment appears to be cheerful as Democratic Kamala Harris leads national polls against Republican Donald Trump by a slight margin. S&P 500 futures have posted significant gains in the early New York session. 10-year US Treasury yields slump to near 4.086%.

The outlook of the US Dollar remains firm as investors expect the Federal Reserve (Fed) to follow a moderate interest rate cut path. Traders have priced out Fed large rate cut bets for November as a slew of upbeat United States (US) data has pointed to economic resilience.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, 30-day Federal Funds futures pricing data shows that there will be a 50 basis points (bps) decline in interest rates in the remaining year, suggesting that the Fed will cut its borrowing rates by 25 bps in November and December.

On the Tokyo front, Japan’s National core Consumer Price Index (CPI) – which excludes volatile food and energy prices – rose by 2.1% in September, faster than 2% in August. Higher inflationary pressures have kept the Bank of Japan (BoJ) on track to hike interest rates further this year.

Economic Indicator

National CPI ex Food, Energy (YoY)

Japan’s National Consumer Price Index (CPI), released by the Statistics Bureau of Japan on a monthly basis, measures the price fluctuation of goods and services purchased by households nationwide. The YoY reading compares prices in the reference month to the same month a year earlier. The gauge excluding food and energy is widely used to measure underlying inflation trends as these two components are more volatile. Generally, a high reading is seen as bullish for the Japanese Yen (JPY), while a low reading is seen as bearish.

EUR/USD gains traction to near 1.1800 as tariff uncertainty weighs on US Dollar

The EUR/USD pair holds positive ground around 1.1795 during the early Asian session on Tuesday. The US Dollar weakens against the Euro amid US tariff uncertainty. The release of the US January Producer Price Index report will be in the spotlight later on Friday.

GBP/USD treads water near 1.3500 as BoE-Fed divergence debate stalls

GBP/USD spent Monday spinning in place as market participants await a fresh catalyst to break the pair out of its recent range. The BoE's February hold came with a surprisingly dovish 5-4 split, and UK Consumer Price Index data last week showed inflation easing to 3.0%, reinforcing the case for earlier rate cuts, with most economists now looking to April or March for the next move.

Gold down but not out as key $5,140 support holds

Gold consolidates the advance to monthly top of $5,250 in Tuesday’s Asian trades. The US Dollar finds demand as liquidity returns and risk sentiment recovers, despite US tariffs uncertainty. Gold defends 61.8% Fibo resistance at $5,142 amid the pullback, daily RSI remains bullish.

Top Crypto Losers: BCH, HYPE, PUMP extend losses as Bitcoin drops below $64,000

Altcoins, including Bitcoin Cash, Hyperliquid, and Pump.fun, are leading losses over the last 24 hours as Bitcoin falls below $64,000 on Tuesday. The technical outlook for BCH, HYPE, and PUMP flags downside risk amid broader market selling.

Supreme Court nixes tariffs, Trump teases 15% global tariff

On February 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that Trump’s global tariffs under IEEPA authority were unconstitutional, effectively nullifying the framework. However, the relief was short-lived. Within hours, Trump floated a 15% blanket tariff under an alternative legal authority.

XRP recovers slightly as bearish sentiment dominates crypto market

Ripple is rising above $1.40 at the time of writing on Monday amid fresh tariff-triggered headwinds in the broader cryptocurrency market. The sell-off to $1.33, the token’s intraday low, can be attributed to macroeconomic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and risk-averse sentiment among other factors.