By Yasuhiko Seki and Hiroko Komiya March 26 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar may rise toward the highest level since January against the yen after the greenback passed the top line of the cloud on so-called ichimoku charts, according to Ueda Harlow Ltd., citing trading patterns. The U.S. currency is also poised to extend gains should it end this week above the 200-day moving average, a key resistance point where sell orders may be clustered, Toshiya Yamauchi, a senior currency analyst at the online currency trading company in Tokyo, said yesterday. “If the currency breaks convincingly above the 200-day moving average and ends this week above that level, it may rise toward the mid-93 yen area, which is the bottom line of the cloud on weekly ichimoku charts,” Yamauchi said. The dollar traded at 92.75 yen as of 7:54 a.m. in Tokyo from 92.73 yen in New York yesterday. The greenback reached this year’s high of 93.77 yen on Jan. 8 before tumbling to as low as 88.14 yen on March 4. The currency’s 200-day moving average was 91.53 yen yesterday. The dollar may slide to about 90 yen should it fail to end this week above the 200-day moving average, Yamauchi said. An ichimoku chart analyzes the midpoints of historic highs and lows. A cloud is the area between the first and second leading span lines on the chart and is used to show an area where buy orders may be clustered. In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to forecast price changes in a security, commodity, currency or index. To contact the reporters on this story: Yasuhiko Seki in Tokyo at Yseki5@bloomberg.net; Hiroko Komiya in Tokyo at Hkomiya1@bloomberg.net.

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