USD/JPY consolidates below 1-month tops, NFP awaited

   •  Bulls struggling to breakthrough mid-107.00s amid risk-off mood.
   •  Sliding US bond yields offset a follow-through USD buying interest.
   •  Focus remains on the keenly watched US monthly jobs report.

The USD/JPY pair struggled to build on its intraday rebound from the 107.00 handle and was now seen oscillating in a range just below mid-107.00s, over 1-month tops.

The pair failed to capitalize on the Asian session uptick and was now being capped by bearish trading sentiment around European equity markets, which underpinned the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal.

The risk-off mood, further reinforced by the ongoing slide in the US Treasury bond yields, partly offset a strong follow-through US Dollar buying interest and was seen as one of the key factors keeping a lid on any additional up-move.

Heading into today's key event risk - the release of US monthly jobs data, investors' reluctance to place any aggressive bets further collaborated to the pair's range-bound/subdued price action during the early European session.

Apart from the keenly watched NFP report, the Fed Chair Jerome Powell's scheduled speech would be scrutinized for clues over the central bank's near-term monetary policy outlook and might also provide some meaningful impetus on the last trading day of the week.

Technical levels to watch

Momentum above mid-107.00s could get extended towards 107.75 intermediate resistance en-route the 108.00 handle. On the flip side, the 107.00 handle now seems to have emerged as an immediate support, which if broken might prompt some fresh long-unwinding trade and accelerate the fall towards 106.80-75 intermediate support ahead of 106.50 level.