Japanese shares has made a gain on Friday, as a strong finish on the Wall Street made the traders to bet on cheap growth stocks, on the other hand stable U.S. interest rates also supported sentiment.

On Thursday, Japan published the April Merchandise Trade Balance Total, which did post a surplus of ¥255.3 billion, although the adjusted figure contracted to ¥65.2 billion, instead of exports soaring 38%, while imports were up 12.8%. March Machinery Orders declined 2% YoY, which has bet the expectations.

Elsewhere, The greenback has reached near milestone lows on Friday, and is heading for a weekly loss, as Investors initial concerns at taper talk in Federal Reserve minutes decreased – with actual tapering seeming distant and while pandemic recovery boosted other currencies.

On Wednesday, minutes from the April Fed meeting noted some committee members think that if the economy keeps improving, it might be appropriate, at upcoming meetings, to “begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases”.

As per a recent data, The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits has dropped further below 500,000 last week, but jobless rolls increased in early May, which could hinder the expectations for an acceleration in employment growth this month.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 444,000 for the week ended May 15, the Labor Department said. That was the lowest since mid-March 2020 and held claims below 500,000 for two straight weeks.

USD/JPY 4 Hour Chart:

Support: 108.57 (S1), 108.37 (S2), 108.00 (S3).

Resistance: 109.14 (R1), 109.51 (R2), 109.71 (R3).

Amidst all the catalysts favoring yen against the greenback. We expect a bearish trend for USD/JPY.