USD/JPY slides below mid-110.00s, fresh session lows

The USD/JPY pair extended its steady intraday slide and is currently placed near the lower end of its daily trading range, below mid-110.00s.

Having repeated failed to find acceptance above mid-111.00s, the pair met with some fresh supply on Thursday and retreated further from one-month tops set on Tuesday amid persistent offered bias around the US dollar

The greenback remained depressed in the wake of the Fed's unlimited QE and failed to gain any respite from the passage of a massive $2 trillion US stimulus package to offset the economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic.

A mixed reaction in the equity markets prompted some cautiousness among investors amid concerns over the continuous spread of COVID-19, which benefitted the Japanese yen's safe-haven status and exerted some pressure on the major.

The cautious mood was further reinforced by a fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields. This eventually inspired bearish traders and contributed to the pair's modest pullback through the early European session on Thursday.

Moving ahead, Thursday's key focus will be on the release of the highly anticipated US initial weekly jobless claims. Economists are looking for claims to soar to 1,000K as compared to the previous week's reading of 281K.

The US economic docket also features the release of the final GDP print, which is expected to confirm that the economic growth stood at 2.1% annualized pace during the final quarter of 2019 but seems unlikely to provide any meaningful impetus.

Technical levels to watch