USD/JPY off lows, attempting a move back above 100.00 psychological mark

Having posted a session low at 99.64, the USD/JPY pair has managed to bounce-off few pips but remained well-offered below 100.00 psychological mark and is currently trading around 99.90-95 band.

The greenback extended its recent offered tone as Wednesday's release of FOMC meeting minutes failed to provide any clues over the timing of next Fed rate-hike move and was perceived as dovish by the market.

Adding to this, cautious sentiment around equity markets, with Japan's Nikkei posting a loss of nearly 1.5%, is supporting the safe-haven demand of the Japanese Yen. The pair even failed to benefit from disappointing Japanese trade balance data that showed country's surplus in July narrowed slightly to 0.32 trillion Yen.

Further slide, however, was limited after Japanese Ministry of Finance (MOF) official, Asakawa, showed readiness to intervene to curb excess volatility and sharp appreciation of the Japanese currency. Moreover, comments from Etsuro Honda, adviser to Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) many resort to aggressive easing at its policy review meeting scheduled next month also some support to the major.

Traders now shift their focus to US economic releases later during NA trading session for short-term momentum play.

Technical levels to watch

Recovery back above 100.00 mark now seems to confront resistance near 100.30 level, above which the pair is likely to extend its rebound further towards 100.80 region. Momentum above 100.80 level could trigger a bout of short-covering that is likely to lift the pair towards 101.25 intermediate resistance en-route its next major resistance near 101.90-102.00 handle.

On the flip side, weakness below session through could aim towards weekly low support near 99.50 region, below which the pair seems all set to retest Brexit-led swing lows support near 99.00 round figure mark.