AUD/JPY just trying to hang on to 83.00 to end the week

The AUD/JPY is finding some buyers in the early Asia session, trading just beneath the 83.00 handle.

Friday is a quiet window for the AUD on the economic calendar, but Japan saw hesitating inflation figures late Thursday that appears to have softened the Yen heading into the week's end.

Japanese Tokyo CPI dropped across the board at 23:30 GMT late Thursday, with the headline Tokyo CPI printing at 0.4%, flubbing the forecast 0.5% and an even further contraction of the previous reading of 0.6%. Inflation continues to vex the Bank of Japan (BoJ), far below their 2% target, and the central bank looks set to continue keeping their monetary policy super-easy for the indefinite future.

The Aussie still managed to lose some ground against the Yen for Thursday as trade rhetoric continues to spoil market hopes of peaceful resolutions from the Trump administration. Today US President Trump called off the ground-breaking summit that was scheduled with North Korea for next month, and the Trump administration's plan to impose tariffs on imported vehicles into the US is drawing criticism from Canada and Mexico, the US' major trading partners and who are embroiled in a stalled NAFTA renegotiation process. The tariffs have been pegged as targeting NAFTA negotiations, and Canada and Mexico are beginning to push back harder against US trade demands.

AUD/JPY levels to watch

the Aussie is still struggling amid floundering risk sentiment and is cycling near support from the 50-day EMA at 82.80. Bullish traders may be looking for a jumping-in point as the pair approaches the 50.0 Fibo retracement level near the same value, though with confidence continuing to falter in the AUD a further drop into the last swing low at 81.10 could be on the cards.