USD/JPY bulls trying to defend 112.00 handle

The greenback remained on the back-foot against its Japanese counterpart, with the USD/JPY pair flirting with the key 112.00 support. 

The pair remained under some selling pressure through Asian session on Friday amid a mildly softer tone around the US Dollar, despite yesterday's upbeat US economic data and a modest pickup in the US Treasury bond yields. 

Even the prevalent bullish sentiment around Asian equity markets, which tends to weigh on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven demand, did little to lend any support and stall the pair's slide back closer to Tuesday's 2-week lows. 

Today's key focus would remain on the US macro data, especially the consumer inflation figures. Against the backdrop of Wednesday's FOMC meeting minutes, showing policymakers' concern over stubbornly low inflationary pressure, the headline CPI print would draw a lot of market attention. 

This, along with the release of US monthly retail sales data might now turn out to be the next fundamental catalyst determining the pair's next leg of directional move. 

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Technical levels to watch

A follow through weakness below the 112.00 handle is likely to accelerate the slide towards the very important 200-day SMA support near the 111.80 region, below which the pair is likely to fall towards the 111.50-45 region.

On the upside, momentum beyond 112.30 immediate resistance might continue to confront some fresh supply near 112.50-55 area, which if cleared could lift the pair towards 112.85 level en-route the 113.00 handle.