By FX Empire.com

The USD/JPY pair retreated last week but still within the same range which dominated the pair’s movements in the past three months. The Japanese yen recorded gains against the dollar and most of its major counterparts amid the delay from EU leaders to announce any clear steps to solve the EU debt crisis.

Lack of confidence and uncertainty regarding the EU debt crisis future drove lower-yielding currencies up as investors consider them safe haven; the greenback also recovered some of its previous losses against European currencies.

Expectations that the EU leaders are going to announce plans to contain the debt crisis helped to create some stability in the financial market, but the delay from EU leaders turned the market confidence to risk aversion.

On the other hand, the Japanese yen has its own battle where BOJ is still looking for the appropriate measure to prevent it’s currency from recording more gains and hurt the economy, as all the previous measures have failed.

The next BOJ’s meeting will be widely monitored from market participant, as the central bank could take extra measures to control the ongoing increase in the Japanese currency.

Major highlights for this week that will affect the USD/JPY pair’s trading:

Monday October 24:

On Monday at 23:50 GMT (Sunday), Japan will release the Merchandise Trade Balance Total for September, where the expectations refer to a surplus of 200.4 billion yen while the previous reading was down by 775.3 billion yen.

The Adjusted Merchandise Trade Balance is expected to show a deficit of 147.8 billion yen compare to the previous deficit of 294.4 billion yen.

On the other hand, the annual Merchandise Trade Exports for September is expected to rise to 1.1 from the previous of 2.8, while the annual Merchandise Trade Imports is expected to come at 12.6 from 19.2.

Tuesday October 25:

On Tuesday at 05:00 GMT, Japan will issue the Small Business Confidence for October where it had a prior reading of 47.2.

On Tuesday, the U.S. economy will release the Consumer Confidence for October at 14:00 GMT, where it’s expected to come at 46.3 from the previous 45.4. The House Price Index for August is due at 14:00 GMT which had a previous reading of 0.8%.

Wednesday October 26:

At 12:30 GMT, the U.S. economy will release the Durable Goods Orders for September, where it’s expected to come at -0.7% from the previous -0.1%, while Durables Excluding Transportation is expected to come at 0.5% from the previous -0.1%.

New Home Sales for September will released at 14:00 GMT, with a previous reading of 295 thousand and it’s expected to rise to 300 thousand by 1.7%.

Thursday October 27:

On Thursday at 23:50 GMT (Wednesday), Japan will release the annual Retail Trade for September, which had a previous reading of -2.6% and it’s expected to rise to 0.1%.

The seasonally adjusted Retail Trade for September is expected to drop to 0.3% from the previous -1.7%.

At 04:00 GMT the Bank of Japan will announce its rate decision for October, where it’s expected to keep the rate steady at 0.10%, while market participants will focus on the bank’s statement.

On Thursday at 12:30 GMT the U.S. economy will release the annualized Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter, where the advanced reading is expected to show a growth of 2.3% from the previous 1.3%.

U.S. Personal Consumption is expected to show a rise of 1.9% from the prior 0.7%, while Core PCE is expected to come at 2.3% in line with the previous quarter.

On Thursday at 12:30 GMT, the U.S. economy will issue its weekly initial claims numbers, where the number of people filing for first-time claims for state unemployment insurance increased 403 thousand last week.

The U.S. Pending Home Sales for September is expected to come at 0.1% from -1.2%, while the annual reading had a prior reading of 13.1%.

Friday October 28:

On Thursday at 23:30 GMT (Wednesday), the Japanese economy will release the Jobless Rate for September, which is expected to come at 4.5% from the previous 4.3%.

The Japanese annual Household Spending for September is expected to fall to 3.7% from the previous 4.1%.

The National Consumer Price Index for September in Japan will be released at 23:30 GMT where is expected to remain unchanged at 0.2%, while the National Consumer Price Index Ex-Fresh Food is expected to come at 0.2% the same as the prior reading.

The Japanese Industrial Production for September will be up at 23:50 GMT, with a previous reading of 0.8% and expected to fall to -2.8%, while the annual reading is expected to come at -2.8% from the prior 0.4%.

The U.S. Personal Income for September will be released at 12:30 GMT and it’s expected to come at 0.3% from the previous -0.1%, the Personal Spending Index had a prior reading of 0.2% and expected to come at 0.6%.

The Core PCE for September had a previous reading of 1.6% and expected to rise to 1.8%.

The University of Michigan Confidence will be released at 13:55 GMT, where it’s expected to come at 57.8 from the previous reading of 57.5.

Read more Weekly Forex Analysis here.