• USDJPY holds beneath short-term SMAs

• The 150.00 handle looks like a strong resistance

• MACD and RSI lose momentum

USDJPY has been trading within a narrow range since November 22 with upper boundary the 149.70 resistance level and lower boundary the 148.90 support.

Technically, the short-term risk is leaning to the downside. The RSI found resistance near the neutral threshold of 50, while the MACD is flattening near its trigger and zero lines.

Given the current negative momentum, the question now is whether the pair will stay resilient above the 148.90 key region. A clear step below it would press the price back to the 147.13 bottom, registered on November 21. If not, the sell-off might stretch towards the 145.80 barrier, taken from the low on September 11.

In the case that the pair overcomes the 20- and the 50-period simple moving averages (SMAs), traders will wait for a close above the 149.70 strong resistance and more importantly, beyond the 150.00 round number, which overlaps with the 200-period SMA, to upgrade their outlook. Then, the next battle could take place somewhere near the 151.40 area.

To sum up, USDJPY is looking strongly bearish today, but traders need to wait to see a clear penetration of 148.90 for further bearish movements.