USD/JPY struggles near 1-week lows, around 106.00 handle

   •  USD weighed down by renewed global trade war fears.
   •  Reviving safe-haven demand adds to the downward pressure.
   •  Second-tier US economic data eyed for fresh impetus.

The USD/JPY pair continued losing ground through the Asian session on Thursday and slipped below the 106.000 handle to over one-week lows. 

Against the backdrop of yesterday's disappointing US monthly retail sales data, lingering concerns over a possible global trade war has been weighing on the US Dollar and dragging the pair lower. 

Adding to this, The US President Donald Trump's plan to impose fresh tariffs on China, fueling worries of a full-blown trade war, provided an additional boost to the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and collaborated to the pair's ongoing retracement slide. 

The selling pressure, however, seems to have abated, at least for the time being, with bears now opting to take some profit off the table, especially after the pair's fall of around 150-pips over the past three days. 

Traders now look forward to the second-tier US economic data - regional manufacturing indices and the usual weekly initial jobless claims, in order to grab some short-term trading opportunities.

Technical outlook

Omkar Godbole, Analyst and Editor at FXStreet writes: “The retreat to 106.56 the next day put the bulls under pressure, further the drop below 106.00 yesterday confirmed the corrective rally from the low of 105.25 has ended and the bears have regained control.”

“On the higher side, only a daily close above 107.91 (Feb. 21 high) would signal short-term bearish-to-bullish trend change,” he adds further.