USD/JPY once again fails near 107.00 mark, retreats to session lows

• USD/JPY continued with its struggle to make it through the 107.00 mark.
• The US fiscal impasse undermined the USD and exerted some pressure.
• The cautious mood benefitted the safe-haven JPY and added to the selling bias.

The USD/JPY pair retreated around 30 pips from the vicinity of multi-week tops and dropped to fresh session lows, around the 106.75 region in the last hour.

The pair continued with its struggle to make it through the 107.00 mark and witnessed a modest intraday pullback amid the emergence of some fresh US dollar selling. The impasse over the next round of the US fiscal stimulus overshadowed signs of the US economic recovery and continued exerting some downward pressure on the greenback.

Apart from a modest USD weakness, bearish traders further took cues from a fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields. This coupled with the prevalent cautious mood around the equity markets underpinned the Japanese yen’s safe-haven status and further contributed to the USD/JPY pair’s rejection slide from the 107.00 mark.

With Friday’s downtick, the pair, for now, seems to have snapped five consecutive days of the winning streak. However, it will be prudent to wait for some strong follow-through selling before positioning for any further depreciating move as the focus now shifts to a crucial weekend meeting between the US and Chinese trade officials.

In the meantime, important US macro releases and the broader market risk sentiment will be looked upon for some impetus. Friday’s US economic docket highlights the release of monthly Retail Sales and Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for August, which might produce meaningful trading opportunities on the last day of the week.

Technical levels to watch