USD/JPY: Mildly bid above 109 amid mixed sentiment

• USD/JPY extends the previous recovery gains.
• US President Trump cited fears of a surge of virus, turns ship in hospital for New York, New Jersey.
• Japan’s Overall Household Spending can offer immediate direction, pandemic updates will remain as the key driver.

Having benefited from the recovery in virus data from global hot-spot, while marking a three-day winning streak on Monday, USD/JPY buyers seem to catch a breath around 109.25 amid the early Asian session on Tuesday. The recent trade sentiment could be taking clues from US President Donald Trump’s comments during Coronavirus (COVID-19) Task Force Briefings as well as updates from the UK.

US President Trump suggested that the next week, one and a half could see a surge in the virus while also marking the government’s fight against the pandemic. The Republican leader welcomed the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s request to turn ships into the hospital while also said to sign an agreement to provide masks from 3M.

It should also be noted that the shift in power from the UK’s de facto PM Boris Johnson to Deputy Dominic Raab also weighed on the risk-tone.

Earlier, the recovery in the pandemic numbers from Spain and Italy, coupled with upbeat comments from the New York Governor Cuomo helped the market sentiment to kick-start the week on a positive side. The US 10-year treasury yields marked nine basis points (bps) of increase to 0.69% with Wall Street benchmarks up near 7.0% each. Though, the latest readings of the US stock futures suggest mild weakness of around 0.30%.

While Japan’s Overall Household Spending for February, expected and prior -3.9%, could act as immediate catalysts, the pair could keep taking clues from the virus data for fresh impulse.

Technical analysis

A daily closing beyond the 200-day SMA level, currently at 108.35, portrays the pair’s momentum strength.