USD/JPY reverse majority of Friday's losses, clings to gains above 113.00 handle

The greenback rose against the Japanese Yen, helping the USD/JPY pair to move back above 113.00 handle and snap three consecutive days of rejection move from 115.00 psychological mark. 

Currently trading around 113.15 level, the pair caught fresh bids after Japanese trade balance figures missed expectations. In fact, the country's Merchandise trade balance for January came-in to show a deficit of ¥1086.9 billion versus ¥636.8 billion deficit expected and ¥641.4 billion surplus recorded in December. 

Meanwhile, a bullish consolidation around the US Dollar also supported the bid tone surrounding the major. This coupled with a slight improvement in investor's risk appetite, which tends to weigh on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal, further assisted the pair to reverse majority of its losses posted on Friday.

Investors, however, might be reluctant to initiate and carry big positions ahead of the US national holiday on Monday, which might collaborated towards restricting further upside for the major.

Technical levels to watch

Immediate resistance is seen near 113.50 level (Friday’s high) above which the pair is likely to aim towards reclaiming 114.00 handle and head towards testing 114.15-20 horizontal resistance. On the flip side, weakness below 113.00 handle might now find support at 112.85 level, which if broken is likely to accelerate the slide towards 112.40 intermediate support ahead of 112.00 round figure mark.