Like most markets, USD/JPY remains stuck in a fairly narrow range. With little US or Japanese data to go on today, the market remains fixated in the main by Europe.

Certainly, last Friday’s strong non-farm payrolls data is supporting the US dollar, but eurozone woes are making the yen an attractive destination once again. As a result, the long-running trend in USD/JPY is reasserting itself, something that all traders would do well to keep in mind. It seems that markets have started 2012 in a rather downbeat frame, leaving aside the early rallies last week that were likely just the last hurrah of the 2011 ‘Santa Rally’.