USD/JPY eases from tops, still comfortable above 107.00 mark

• USD/JPY gained some positive traction on Thursday but lacked any strong follow-through.
• Positive US equity futures weighed on the JPY’s safe-haven status and remained supportive.
• Sliding US bond yields, mildly weaker USD capped gains amid persistent coronavirus worries.

The USD/JPY pair retreated around 30 pips from the Asian session tops, albeit has still managed to hold comfortably above the 107.00 mark.

The pair gained some positive traction during the early part of Thursday trading action and moved away from two-week lows set in the previous session but failed to capitalize on the attempted recovery move.

Slight improvement in the global risk sentiment, as depicted by a recovery in the US equity futures, undermined the Japanese yen's safe-haven demand and provided some intraday lift to the major.

However, mounting fears over the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and a fresh leg down in the US Treasury bond yields capped further gains, rather prompted some fresh selling at higher levels.

Investors remained concerned about the ever-increasing coronavirus cases, especially after the White House medical experts warned that as many as 240,000 Americans might die from the respiratory disease.

Against the backdrop of prolonged economic uncertainty, a modest US dollar weakness – weighed down by sliding US bond yields – further contributed to the intraday pullback from levels just above mid107.00s.

Moving ahead, market participants look forward to the release of the US initial weekly jobless claims data, which might influence the USD price dynamics and produce some meaningful trading opportunities.

Technical levels to watch