USD/JPY finds some support near 109.00 handle

The USD/JPY pair failed to build on early up-move to 109.40 level and held weaker for the second consecutive session on Monday.

The US Dollar continues to be weighed down by disappointment from the Fed Chair Janet Yellen's speech at Jackson Hole Symposium, lacking any direct reference to the central bank's near-term monetary policy outlook. 

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This coupled with the prevalent cautious environment, led by reports of another missile test by N. Korea over the weekend remained supportive for the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and further collaborated to the pair's weaker sentiment.

The pair, however, has managed to hold its neck above the 109.00 handle amid lackluster trading action ahead of this week's important US macro releases, including the keenly watched NFP release on Friday. 

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Today's second-tier US economic data - goods trade balance and wholesale inventories, is unlikely to provide any meaningful impetus and hence, broader market risk sentiment would remain a key driver of the pair's movement at the start of a new week. 

Technical outlook

Omkar Godbole, Analyst and Editor at FXStreet writes: "Last week’s weak follow through to previous week’s Doji candle in the wake of a bearish RSI indicates the bears are in control and are likely to push the spot below 108.71, in which case the April low of 108.13 could be put to test. A violation there would open doors for a more serious fall towards 105.50 levels. On the higher side, only an end of the day close above 110.95 [Dec 12 high would abort the bearish view."