• USDJPY remains on the defensive on Friday and is pressured by a combination of factors.
• Stronger domestic inflation figures underpin the JPY and offer some support to the pair.
• Subdued USD demand also acts as a headwind, though the downside remains cushioned.

The USDJPY pair comes under some selling pressure on Friday and reverses a part of the previous day's positive move back closer to the weekly peak. The pair remains on the defensive through the early European session and is currently trading around the 140.00 psychological mark, down less than 0.15% for the day.

The US Dollar continues with its struggle to register any meaningful recovery from the post-US CPI slump to a three-month low touched on Tuesday and acts as a headwind for the USDJPY pair. The Japanese Yen, on the other hand, is drawing some support from Friday's release of stronger domestic consumer inflation data, which showed that the core CPI accelerated to a 40-year high in October. This exerts additional downward pressure on the major, though any meaningful downside still seems elusive, at least for the time being.

The recent hawkish remarks by a slew of US central bank officials suggest that more interest rate hikes were on the way. This, in turn, pushes the US Treasury bond yields higher and should lend some support to the USD. In contrast, the Bank of Japan that the central bank will stick to its monetary easing to support the economy and achieve the 2% inflation target in a sustained, stable fashion. This marks a big divergence in the monetary policy stance adopted by the two major central banks, which could weigh on the JPY.

Apart from this, the risk-on impulse - as depicted by the upbeat mood around the equity markets - could further undermine the safe-haven JPY and offer support to the USDJPY pair. Even from a technical perspective, spot prices have been oscillating in a familiar trading range since the beginning of this week. This points to indecision over the near-term trajectory for the major. That said, repeated failures ahead of the 100-day SMA support breakpoint, around the 141.00 mark, suggest that the bearish trend might still be far from over.

Technical levels to watch