NZD/JPY PRICE ANALYSIS: PAUSES AFTER STRIKING NEW YEARLY HIGH; BUYER DOMINANCE YET TO WANE

NZD/JPY trades flat at 87.40, retracing slightly after reaching a new YTD high.

Buyers remain in charge; however, a flat slope suggests potential near-term consolidation.

Caution is warranted as RSI and Rate of Change indicate weakening buyer momentum.

NZD/JPY retraces slightly as the Asian session begins after posting solid gains on Thursday of 0.58% and reaches a new year-to-date (YTD) high of 87.59. At the time of writing, the NZD/JPY is almost flat, exchanging hands at 87.40.

NZD/JPY Price Analysis: Technical outlook

The NZD/JPY is still upward biased from a daily chart perspective, as the pair remains above the Ichimoku cloud. In addition, the cross-over of the Tenkan-Sen line above the Kijun-Sen, suggests that buyers remain in charge. But the slope of the latter for the last nine days shifted flat, suggesting some consolidation lies ahead before the NZD/JPY attacks the next resistance level at 88.17, the December 13 high.

If the NZD/JPY breaks the abovementioned price level, the next stop would be the 89.00 psychological level, as the pair gets on its way toward testing the 2015 high at 92.42. Conversely, the NZD/JPY first support would be the May 23 high at 87.31, which, once cleared, would expose the May 24 daily high turned support at 86.68. The following support levels would be the Tenkan-Sen line at 86.00 and the Kijun-Sen line at 85.56.

Given that the Ichimoku cloud suggests the NZD/JPY is upwards, oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) indicate that the pair is approaching overbought territory, but its slope aims down. The three-day Rate of Change (RoC) shows buyers are losing momentum