USD/JPY: Bulls await a sustained move beyond 110.00 handle

   •  The USD stands tall near 6-week tops amid resurfacing US-China trade tensions.
   •  Traders seemed rather unaffected by the ongoing slide in the US bond yields.
   •  The prevalent cautious mood might act as the only factor capping further gains.

The USD/JPY pair caught some fresh bids on Monday, with bulls still awaiting a sustained move beyond the key 110.00 psychological mark.

Despite the recent dovish tilt by the Fed, resurfacing US-China trade tensions lifted the US Dollar to a near six-week high and was seen as one of the key factors that helped the pair to regain some positive traction on the first trading day of a new week. 

The USD bulls seemed rather unaffected by the ongoing decline in the US Treasury bond yields, though the prevalent cautious mood underpinned the Japanese Yen's safe-haven demand and might continue to cap any runaway rally, at least for the time being.

Hence, it would be prudent to wait for a strong follow-through buying before confirming a near-term bullish breakout and traders start positioning for any further near-term appreciating move amid absent relevant market moving economic releases on Monday.

Moving ahead, this week's scheduled speeches by influential FOMC members, including the Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, followed by important US macro data - inflation figures and monthly retail sales data, will be looked upon for a fresh directional impetus.

Technical levels to watch

On a sustained strength above the mentioned handle, leading to a subsequent move beyond Feb. monthly swing high level of 110.16 now seems to accelerate the momentum towards 50-day SMA hurdle, currently near mid-110.00s. On the flip side, the 109.60-50 region might continue to protect the immediate downside, which if broken might turn the pair vulnerable to slide further towards 109.20 intermediate support en-route the 109.00 round figure mark.