The USD/JPY pair caught fresh bids after upbeat US economic releases and has now surged to the highest level since early April. Currently trading around 111.90 region, within striking distance of 112.00 round figure mark, the pair got a boost after US monthly durable goods orders recorded stronger-than-expected growth of 4.8% during October. Core durable goods orders (excluding transportation items) also surpassed consensus estimates to show a growth of 1.0%. Meanwhile, weekly jobless claims were also mostly in-line with expectations and further helped the pair to maintain its strong bid tone nearly multi-month highs. Next in focus would FOMC meeting minutes, which is expected to reaffirm market expectations of a December Fed rate-hike. Should the minutes reveal more optimistic views about the economy, market participants will start building on faster Fed rate tightening cycle and would open room for continuation of the pair's strong up-move in the near-term. Slobodan Drvenica, Information & Analysis Manager at Windsor Brokers Ltd., notes, "Daily indicators are in steep ascend and underpin the action which is looking for extension towards next target and strong barrier at 112.12 (weekly cloud base). Meantime, the pair may extend near-term range, before bulls resume, as coming US holiday is expected bring lower volumes and more quiet trading. Dips are so far seen as buying opportunities, with solid supports at 110.25/00 Tuesday’s low / psychological support) expected to ideally protect the downside."