In today’s Asian session, 21 April, the US dollar tumbled in line with intraday weakness seen in the US stock indices futures after the markets reopened from the Good Friday holiday break.
The US Federal Reserve’s independence has come under renewed threat from US President Trump again, when over the weekend it was reported that the US White House Administration has continued to evaluate the available options to seek a removal of Fed Chair Powell before his tenure ends in 2026.
The Japanese yen strengthened to a level last seen in September last year, where the USD/JPY shed -1% coupled with the EUR/USD rallying by 1.1% to hold at a 3-year high. In addition, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 E-min futures declined by -0.9% each, respectively, at this time of this writing.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 snapped its prior two sessions of gains with an intraday loss of 1.1% while the Hong Kong stock market remained shut for the Easter Monday holiday.
These observations suggest that market participants on the aggregate are questioning the US White House administration’s current policies that may erode the confidence of holding US assets, and such a lack of confidence may amplify if the long-held independence of the Fed in terms of conducting monetary policy is removed.
Overall, the threat to the Fed’s independence had a greater market impact than the ECB’s dovish tone following its rate cut decision last Thursday, 17 April."
The yellow metal has continued to thrive in such uncertain times, where Gold ( XAU/USD ) added on to its gains with an intraday rally of 1.6% that saw another fresh all-time intraday high of $3,385 in today’s Asian session.
Economic Data Releases
Fig 1: Key data for today’s Asian mid-session
Chart of the Day – Potential Deceleration of USD/JPY After Minor Bounce
Fig 2: USD/JPY minor trend as of 21 Apr 2025
The USD/JPY has continued to plunge after its bearish breakdown from its “Pennant” configuration (considered as a minor consolidation within its ongoing medium-term downtrend phase) on last Wednesday, 16 April.
The hourly RSI momentum indicator has hit an extreme oversold reading of 8.2, its lowest level in the past four months, which suggests that USD/JPY may see an imminent minor corrective bounce before another leg of impulsive down move resurfaces.
Potential minor corrective bounce intermediate resistance to watch will be at 141.74 (former minor swing low of 17 April), and if the 142.70 short-term pivotal resistance is not surpassed to the upside, the USD/JPY may face renewed potential downside pressure to expose the next intermediate supports at 140.30/140.00 and 139.00/138.70.
On the flip side, a clearance above 142.70 invalidates the bearish tone to kickstart a potential mean reversion rebound sequence for the next intermediate resistances to come in at 144.10 and 145.10.
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