USD/JPY retreats from over 1-week tops, slides to 105.25-20 region

The USD/JPY pair extended its steady intraday pullback from over one-week tops and dropped to fresh session lows, around the 105.30 region in the last hour.

The pair continued with its struggle to break through the 105.50-55 supply zone, instead witnessed some selling and for now, seems to have snapped four consecutive days of the winning streak. The downtick was exclusively sponsored by a modest US dollar pullback and seemed rather unaffected by a slight improvement in the global risk sentiment.

Renewed hopes that the US Congress could break a months-long impasse to agree on the next round of fiscal stimulus measures helped ease the market fears over the second wave of COVID-19 infections. This, in turn, prompted some USD profit-taking from two-month tops and was seen as one of the key factors exerting pressure on the USD/JPY pair.

Reports indicated that Democrats in the US House of Representatives are working on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package. The news boosted investors' confidence and led to a goodish bounce in the equity markets. The risk-on flow could undermine the Japanese yen's safe-haven demand and limit deeper losses for the USD/JPY pair.

Improving risk sentiment was further reinforced by a pickup in the US Treasury bond yields higher, which might help revive the USD demand and further collaborate towards limiting the downside for the USD/JPY pair, at least for the time being.

Market participants now look forward to the US economic docket, highlighting the release of Durable Goods Orders. The data might influence the USD price dynamics and produce some short-term trading opportunities later during the early North American session. Apart from this, the broader market risk sentiment will also be looked upon for some impetus on the last day of the week.

Technical levels to watch