USD/JPY rises to 109.00 as USD gathers strength on Fed commentary
- USD/JPY continues to edge higher in the American session.
- US Dollar Index remains on track to close above 90.00.
- Several Fed policymakers voice concerns over rising inflation.
The USD/JPY pair gained traction during the American trading hours and rose to a fresh daily high of 109.00. As of writing, the pair was up 0.2% on a daily basis at 108.97.
DXY rises above 90.00
The renewed USD strength on the back of the latest Fed commentary seems to be helping USD/JPY push higher ahead of the weekend.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said on Friday that should start having a conversation about tapering sooner rather than later. Additionally, "if we see good progress and the economy can stand on its own, I'd be in favour of getting to a more normalized policy," Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic noted.
Bostic also said that he is worried about inflation getting entrenched. Similarly, Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan reiterated that they are seeing a lot of uncertainty about inflation.
Following these remarks, the US Dollar Index (DXY) is up 0.42% on the day at 90.12. Earlier in the day, the data from the US showed that the economic activity in the private sector continued to expand at a robust pace with the IHS Markit's Services and Manufacturing PMIs notching new series highs in May. The PMI report also highlighted increasing price pressure and helped the greenback outperform its rivals.
Technical levels to watch for