Ella 
During the Asian session on Wednesday, USD/JPY attracted some bargain hunting and rebounded above the 147.00 mark for the latest time, interrupting the slight downward trend from the previous day. However, USD/JPY remains range-bound over the past week or so as traders eagerly await U.S. consumer inflation data before preparing for the next directional move.
The closely watched U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report will be released later today and will provide clues on the path of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (FED). This will therefore play a key role in influencing U.S. dollar demand in the near term and provide some significant thrust to the USD/JPY pair. Upbeat sentiment ahead of key data risks is thought to weaken the safe-haven Japanese yen (JPY) and boost USD/JPY.
Meanwhile, data released on Tuesday showed that the U.S. producer price index (PPI) rose less than expected in July, supporting the prospect of further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in September. This has suppressed U.S. bond yields across the board, and the U.S. dollar exchange rate has fallen to its lowest level in more than a week. In addition to this, expectations that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will raise interest rates again in 2024 will also help limit the yen’s losses and may limit the USD/JPY exchange rate.
Even from a technical perspective, USD/JPY remains within its recent range-bound range, signaling indecision among traders. Therefore, it would be prudent to wait for strong follow-through buying before confirming that USD/JPY has bottomed around the 141.70-141.65 area, the lowest levels since early January hit last week.
