OpenBook traders pay attention to Japan’s Azumi

February 3rd, 11:57 am by Sam

(eToro Blog) Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi warned markets today over the strengthening of the Yen as the USDJPY trades dangerously near 76.00. Azumi said that the current environment of low interest rates in the U.S. is pushing speculators to short the USDJPY. He said that the rise in the Yen was one sided and he is ready to take decisive steps to stop the rise. He stressed once again that the strengthening Yen does not match the fundamentals of the Japanese economy. Azumi said, “I will closely watch market movement and take appropriate action. There is no change in my stance. If there is one-sided movement, I will take decisive steps.” Despite his comments, the USDJPY was unchanged and trading as low as 76.18 at the time of writing this report.

OpenBook trader mizogutisennri who is from Japan as well has been trading both sides of the Yen. For the past couple of days, this trader has been shorting the USDJPY, EURJPY and AUDJPY and taking advantage of the break in support near 76.50. This trader obtained 50% to 70% gains by shorting these pairs. However the comments from Azumi convinced this trader to switch his short positions to long on the pairs. The trader booked some profits by going long on USDJPY today near 76.36. This trader is up 21% so far this week.

Asian markets ended mixed for the day ahead of the important Non Farm Payrolls data release. The Japanese Nikkei ended down 37 points, the Hang Seng ended up 18 points, the Shanghai index ended up 19 points and the Australian S&P ASX ended down 13 points. Traders on OpenBook are primarily long on USDJPY with average limits at 77.50 and stops at 76.00.

OpenBook trader Nimfo07 who is up an impressive 20.2% has been trading the EURJPY, GBPJPY and USDJPY. This trader has used medium risk strategies this week to squeeze on average 10% gains on the Yen pairs. The trader closed several positions in profits today after the recent comments by Japanese Finance Minister Azumi. This trader opened several long positions on USDJPY near 76.13 and exited near 76.20 with gains as high as 11.8%. The trader also obtained some quick profits going long on GBPJPY around 120.51 and EURJPY around 100.08 earlier today. This trader is paying attention to the comments from Azumi and shorting the Yen.