USD/JPY trying to defend 109.00 handle

The USD/JPY pair ran through some fresh offers just ahead of mid-109.00s and turned lower for the fourth consecutive session, albeit has held above four-month lows touched on Friday.

Currently flirting with the 109.00 handle, the pair was being weighed down by the prevailing risk-off environment, led by rising geopolitical tensions between the US and N. Korea. The global flight to safety has been driving investors' away from perceived riskier assets - like equities and boosting demand for traditional safe-haven assets, including the Japanese Yen. 

Even a mildly softer tone around the US Treasury bond yields did little to lend any immediate support, while a modest pickup in the US Dollar demand helped limit further losses, at least for the time being. 

In absence of any major market moving economic releases on Monday, the pair remains at the mercy of broader market risk sentiment. The key focus, however, would remain on the Fed’s annual central bank symposium in Jackson Hole, where comments on the major central bank's monetary policy outlook would help determine the pair's next leg of directional move. 

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Technical outlook

Omkar Godbole, Analyst and Editor at FXStreet writes, "a break above the falling trend line on the price chart would open doors for intraday rally to 109.78 [1-hour 200-MA] and 110.00 [1-hour 100-MA]."

"Failure at the descending trend line on the 1-hour, followed by an end of the day close below 108.60 would revive the bigger bearish trend" he added.