USD/JPY bounces off lows, still in red below 113.00 handle

   •  A goodish pickup in the US bond yields helps stall the bearish slide. 
   •  Reviving safe-haven demand might now cap additional gains.
   •  Second-tier US economic data eyed for fresh impetus. 

The USD/JPY pair stalled its bearish slide, at least for the time being, and has managed to rebound around 20- pips from session lows.

The pair finally broke down from its 4-days old narrow trading range and dropped to over 1-week lows during the early European session on Thursday. However, a goodish pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, although failing to revive the US Dollar demand, helped the pair to find some support near the 112.65 region.

Meanwhile, the prevalent cautious sentiment around European equity markets should continue to underpin the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and might keep a lid on any meaningful recovery amid pre-holiday thin liquidity conditions.

Traders now look forward to the US economic docket, featuring the releases of usual initial weekly jobless claims, along with goods trade balance data and Chicago PMI, for some fresh trading impetus during the early NA session.

Technical levels to watch

Any recovery attempts beyond the 113.00 handle might now confront immediate resistance near 113.20 horizontal level, above which the pair is likely to make a fresh attempt to clear 113.55-60 supply zone. 

On the flip side, weakness below 112.65 area (session low) could get extended towards 112.30-25 zone ahead of the 112.00 handle before the pair eventually drops to the 111.65 important support (200-day SMA).