USD/JPY retreats from tops, still well bid around mid-109.00s

   “¢   Upbeat US jobs report/ISM PMI helps build on the intraday bullish move.
   “¢   Bulls also seemed to track a strong pickup in the US bond yields.
   “¢   Now awaits a strong catalyst to move back above the 110.00 handle.

The USD/JPY pair continued scaling higher and refreshed session tops in the last hour, albeit quickly retreated back to mid-109.00s.  

Having broken out of its European session consolidation phase, the pair caught some fresh bids following the release of better-than-expected US monthly jobs report and stronger ISM manufacturing PMI print for the month of May.  

Bulls also tracked the ongoing upsurge in the US Treasury bond yields, with a strong opening in the US equity markets weighing on the Japanese Yen’s safe-haven appeal and further collaborating to the pair’s ongoing bullish momentum.  

In addition to this, technical buying on a decisive move above 200-hour SMA hurdle near the 109.40 region could have further contributed towards accelerating the up-move.

The pair rallied around 100-pips from an intraday low level of 108.72, touched in the aftermath of the BoJ decision to trim the purchases of Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) for the first time in three months. Although the pair has now turned positive for the week, a move back towards the key 110.00 psychological mark still looks elusive.  

Technical levels to watch

Yohay Elam, FXStreet’s own Analyst write, “108.90 was a swing low on May 24th. 108.60 was a swing low on May 4th. Further down, 108.10 was the low point May 29th and the lowest since late April. 107.60 capped the pair on April 13th.”

“109.50 capped the pair in late April and early May. The round 110.00 level remains of high psychological importance and is backed by the 200-day SMA. 110.50 was a temporary pause on the way up in May and also played a role early in the year. 111.00 worked in both directions many months ago and the last line to watch is the May 21st peak of 111.40,” he added further.