USD/JPY ignores risk-on mood as sellers attack 106.00

• USD/JPY snaps two-day winning streak after taking a U-turn from 106.10 the previous day.
• Japan’s Overall House Spending, Labor Cash Earnings recover in August.
• Risks cheer hopes of stimulus, expectations of COVID-19 vaccine.
• BOJ’s Kuroda showed optimism as the bank raised economic assessment for around 90% of Japan.

USD/JPY refreshes intraday low to 105.91, down 0.10% intraday, amid the initial hour of Tokyo open on Friday. In doing so, the yen pair part ways from the previous two day’s upside momentum even as the risk-tone remains positive, mainly due to the hopes of the American stimulus.

Trump shifts the side, again!

Having earlier stopped the coronavirus (COVID-19) stimulus talks, before cheering the restart with a smaller package, US President Donald Trump is ready to shift towards the large scale bill, per the Bloomberg. The news propels the market’s risk sentiment and weighs on the US dollar’s safe-haven demand.

Also weighing on the USD/JPY could be Japan’s August month Overall Household Spending that matched the upbeat forecast of -6.9% versus -7.6% prior. The Asian major’s Labor Cash Earning also recovered beyond -1.5% forecast and previous readouts to -1.3%.

On Thursday, the BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda highlighted the Asian region’s capacity to overcome the pandemic-led economic problems faster. Further to spread market optimism, the BOJ’s economic assessment upwardly revised forecast for eight out of nine Japanese regions.

Amid all these plays, S&P 500 Futures gain over 0.40% whereas Japan’s Nikkei slips four points to 23,643 by the time of writing.

Looking forward, US politics and stimulus headlines will be the key amid a light calendar in Asia. Though, China’s return and Caixin Services PMI may offer intermediate moves.

Technical analysis

Failures to cross the descending trend line from July drag the pair back towards September 30 top near 105.80.