USD/JPY trades at fresh weekly lows near 108.60 as US T-bond yields push lower

• 10-year US T-bond yield is down more than 2%.
• Wall Street looks to open modestly lower on Thursday.
• FOMC Chairman to testify before the US House Budget Committee.

The lack of positive developments surrounding the United States (US)-China trade talks continues to weigh on the market sentiment and help the safe-haven JPY outperform its rivals. As of writing, the USD/JPY pair, which touched a fresh weekly low of 108.57 earlier in the session, was trading at 108.65, losing 0.15% on a daily basis.

Dismal mood boost demand for JPY

Reports suggesting that China is refusing to commit to $50 billion worth of agricultural imports from the United States caused worries over sides failing to finalize the phase-one of the trade deal to resurface and pushed investors away from risky assets. The dismal mood caused the 10-year US Treasury bond yields to fall sharply since the start of the week. As of writing, the 10-year T-bond yield was down .235% on a daily basis. Additionally, the S&P 500 Futures is down 0.2% to suggest that Wall Street will open in the negative territory.

On the other hand, the US Dollar Index is capitalizing on the poor performance of major European currencies on Thursday to keep the pair’s losses for the time being. Later in the session, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Chairman Jerome Powell will be testifying before the US House Budget Committee.

In the meantime, the data from the US today revealed that the Producer Price Index (PPI) rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in October following September’s 0.3% decline but this reading had little to no impact on the USD’s valuation. At the moment, the US Dollar Index is up 0.06% on the day at 98.38.

Technical levels to watch for