USD/JPY sticks to modest gains, around mid-113.00s

The USD/JPY pair held on its modest gains for the third consecutive session but now seemed struggling to gain any follow through traction. 

The pair quickly recovered its early NA session dip to 113.37 level, led by a downward revision of the US GDP growth figures for the third-quarter, and is currently placed near the 113.45-50 band. 

With investors looking past today's mixed US economic data, a modest uptick in the US Treasury bond yields extended some support to the US Dollar and underpinned the major.

This coupled with a slight improvement in investors’ appetite for riskier assets, as depicted by a goodish recovery in equity markets, weighed on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and further collaborated to the pair's mildly positive tone.

It, however, remains to be seen if the pair is able to move past the 113.60-70 supply zone or moves into consolidation phase in a quiet pre-holiday trading action.

Technical outlook

Valeria Bednarik, American Chief Analyst at FXStreet writes, “the pair is poised to extend its advance, as in the 4 hours chart, the 100 SMA accelerated north through the 200 SMA, as technical indicators aim to regain their upward, but mostly consolidate near overbought readings. Should US data surprise to the upside, the pair has scope to extend its recovery up to 114.40, a major long-term resistance that if it results broken, could trigger stops and lead to a sharp appreciation during the upcoming sessions.”