USD/JPY: Daily Range, Character and Trading Hours
USD/JPY moves a median of 102 pips per day. Half of all days fall between 65 and 152 pips, and the widest day in our sample reached 422. Every figure below comes from 518 daily bars covering 2024-07-29 to 2026-07-30.
USD/JPY character: how the pair behaves
USD/JPY tracks the gap between US and Japanese interest rates more closely than almost any other major, which gives it long, persistent trends. It also carries a second personality: in moments of genuine risk aversion the yen strengthens sharply regardless of rate differentials.
Measured daily range
- Median daily range: 102 pips
- Typical band (middle 80% of days): 65–152 pips
- Widest single day in sample: 422 pips
- Median close-to-close change: 52 pips; the largest 20% of days exceed 102
- Range of the pair over the whole period: 140.79–163.86, a span of 2307 pips
The gap between the median range and the widest day is the number worth remembering. A stop sized for a typical day is not a stop sized for the tail, and the tail is where accounts are damaged.
When it trades
Active in both Asian and American hours, which makes it one of the few majors with a genuinely long working day.
Who it suits
Rewards traders who follow bond yields. Punishes those who treat a quiet uptrend as permanent, because the risk-off reversals are fast and do not wait for technical confirmation.
Sizing a position on USD/JPY
Note that a pip in yen pairs is the second decimal place, not the fourth. Getting this wrong is the most common sizing error on this pair, and it misstates risk by a factor of a hundred. Size from the measured range, and verify the pip value your platform reports before the first trade.
Data: 518 daily bars, 2 incomplete bars excluded. The sample is available for download and the method is described in how we run backtests. What actually moves this pair is covered separately in what drives USD/JPY.
This material is educational and is not individual investment advice. Trading forex carries the risk of losing capital.
Frequently asked questions
What is a pip in USD/JPY?
The second decimal place, not the fourth as in most pairs. Getting this wrong misstates risk by a factor of a hundred and is the most common sizing error on yen pairs.
Why does USD/JPY follow US bond yields?
Because the pair expresses the interest rate differential between the two economies. When US yields rise, dollar-denominated assets become more attractive and capital flows accordingly.
Why does the yen strengthen during market stress?
Decades of near-zero Japanese rates made the yen a funding currency for carry trades. When risk appetite drops those positions are closed, which means buying yen back — regardless of rate differentials.
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