USD/JPY in search of a firm direction, stuck in a range around 110.00 mark

   “¢   A follow-through USD weakness does little to regain any positive traction.  
   “¢   Fading safe-haven demand/rebounding US bond yields help limit downside.

The USD/JPY pair seesawed between tepid gains/minor losses, within 20-pips narrow trading range around the 110.00 handle, and was seen consolidating overnight sharp reversal from weekly tops.  

A modest US Dollar retracement from 11-month tops, led by sliding US Treasury bond yields and weaker than expected Philly Fed Manufacturing Index for June, prompted some aggressive selling around the major.

This coupled with persistent selling in the US equity markets provided an additional boost to the Japanese Yen’s safe-haven appeal and further collaborated to the pair’s intraday fall of nearly 100-pips from the 110.75 supply zone.  

The pair struggled for a firm direction, with a combination diverging forces failing to provide any meaningful impetus and leading to a subdued/range-bound price action through the Asian session on Friday.

A positive trading sentiment across Asian equity markets, coupled with a goodish rebound in the US bond yields helped limit any further downside. The positive factor, however, was largely negated by a follow-through USD weakness and the release of mostly in-line Japan’s National CPI figures.

Despite overnight slide back below the very important 200-day SMA pivotal support, the pair has still managed to hold within previous week’s broader trading range. Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a decisive break before committing for the pair’s next leg of directional move.  

Technical levels to watch

The 200-day SMA, currently near the 110.20 region, now seems to act as an immediate resistance and is followed by hurdles near mid-110.00s and the 110.75-80 zone. On the flip side, 109.85-80 area now seems to have emerged as an immediate support, which if broken is likely to accelerate the slide towards 109.55-50 intermediate support en-route the 109.20 region.