EUR/JPY on the backfoot, stuck near 155.00 after Eurozone PMIs miss the mark

EUR/JPY stuck near 155.00 as momentum remains limited and markets fade the action.
The Euro doesn’t have much to be bid about after Eurozone data misses expectations.
The BoJ’s final appearance of 2023 is on the cards for early next week, due sometime Tuesday.

The EUR/JPY is getting boxed into near-term lows around the 150.00 major handle on Friday after Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index figures printed in the red, keeping the Euro (EUR) on the low side of the Japanese Yen (JPY).

The EUR is one of the weakest-performing currencies on Friday, compared to the Yen which is one of the strongest, leaving the EUR/JPY pair in a precarious position. Waffling Euro bulls are struggling to develop topside momentum and the 155.00 region is proving a difficult neighborhood to move out of this week.

The EUR/JPY sees a notably thinner economic data docket on the calendar next week, with finalized Eurozone Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) on the cards for Tuesday, though major updates to the preliminary prints aren’t expected.

The Bank of Japan (B0J) will also be delivering its latest Monetary Policy Statement and final rate call of 2023. The BoJ is broadly expected to keep rates pinned in slightly negative territory at -0.1%.

EUR/JPY Technical Outlook

The EUR/JPY has been struggling to develop a breakout from back-and-forth action around the 155.00 handle, with the pair skidding along the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) just above 154.00.

The pair is down one and three-quarters of a percent from last week’s peak at 157. 68, and nearly six percent from November’s peak bids at 164.30, a fifteen-year high for the pair.

The 50-day SMA is capping off medium-term bullish potential at the 160.00 major handle, but a hard floor around 154.00 will keep the pair strung in the wide midrange.