USD/JPY sticks to modest gains but lacks follow-through
| • US-China trade optimism helped regain some positive traction on Friday.
• A subdued USD demand/weaker US bond yields kept a lid on further gains.
The USD held on to its modest gains against its Japanese counterpart, helping the USD/JPY pair to recover a part of the previous session's downtick.
News of progress in the US-China trade talks dampened Japanese Yen's safe-haven status and was seen as one of the key factors that helped the pair to regain some positive traction on the last trading day of the week.
The uptick, however, has been limited, at least for the time being, in wake of a subdued US Dollar demand, amid a weaker tone surrounding the US Treasury bond yields and the overnight softer US economic data.
An unexpected fall in durable goods orders, coupled with weaker Philly Fed manufacturing index and existing home sales reaffirmed expectations that the Fed will hold interest rates steady and kept a lid on any runaway rally.
There isn't any major market-moving economic data due for release on Friday and hence, scheduled speeches by influential FOMC member will now be looked upon for some impetus later during the North-American session.
Technical levels to watch
Immediate resistance is pegged near 110.85 horizontal level and is closely followed by the 111.00 round figure mark, above which the pair is likely to aim towards testing 100-day SMA, around the 111.50-55 region.
On the flip side, the 110.55-50 region might continue to protect the immediate downside, which if broken might turn the pair vulnerable to accelerate the fall further towards challenging the key 110.00 psychological mark.
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