The important US data release this afternoon-USD/JPY in the spotlight again

There are a number of US economic releases due out this afternoon. The most important of those is due at 3pm GMT and it is the February ISM (Institute of Supply Management) manufacturing index. The index is forecast to improve slightly in February, to 49.5, from 49.1 in January. There are  a good many components within this report that need to be noted too. Those are the Prices paid component. That was last at 52.9 and is expected to tick up to 53.2. The other components which can have an impact are New Orders and Employment. If there are any surprises in those, or the headline number itself, the markets will move and once again I focus here on US bonds and how those yields might shift, on the back of this data. That brings both Gold and the USD/JPY front and centre of any reaction that might evolve. Right now those US yields are lower and that is adding some pressure on the USD/JPY, which peaked earlier at 150.69. It is just now close to European session lows, currently trading at 150.35