USD/JPY jumps back above 116.00 handle

After an initial slide to its lowest level since Dec. 14, the USD/JPY pair staged a goodish recovery and has now reversed nearly 100-pips from session low. 

Currently hovering around 116.10 region, testing daily peak, a broad based greenback recovery, with the key US Dollar Index bouncing-off three week lows, helped the pair to defend 115.00 important psychological mark for the time being. Meanwhile, the official data on foreign investments in the Japanese bond market and stocks, which showed a huge outflow, also seems to have contributed to the pair's rebound from multi-week lows. 

The up-move, however, lacked momentum as investors remained cautious ahead of the keenly watched US non-farm payrolls data, slated for release later during NA session. 

With the Fed's expected hawkish monetary policy stance highly dependent on the incoming Trump administration's fiscal policies, today's NFP data now becomes an important determinant of the pair's near-term trajectory. 

Technical levels to watch

From current levels 116.20 level is likely to act as immediate hurdle above which the momentum could get extended towards 116.50 resistance area ahead of 117.00 round figure mark. On the downside, 115.35-30 area now seems to protect immediate downside, which if broken might now drag the pair below 115.00 mark support, towards testing its next support near 114.70 horizontal zone.