USD/JPY rejected at 110.00 handle, turns lower for the day

   •  Struggles to build on early up-move amid a follow-through USD profit-taking slide.
   •  A sudden retracement in the US bond yields prompts some long-unwinding trade.
   •  Traders now look forward to the US consumer inflation figures for fresh impetus.

The USD/JPY pair once again faced rejection at the 110.00 handle and has now drifted into negative territory, hitting fresh session low level of 109.61 in the last hour.

Today's release of the BoJ Summary of Opinions, reaffirming the central bank's easy monetary policy stance, was initially seen assisting the pair to build on overnight strong gains and move back to last week's 3-month tops. 

Bulls, however, struggled to lift the pair decisively beyond the key 110.00 psychological mark amid a follow-through US Dollar profit-taking slide from yearly tops touched in the previous session. 

This coupled with sharp retracement in the US Treasury bond yields during the early European session prompted some additional long-unwinding trade and further collaborated to the pair's retracement slide.

However, the prevalent positive trading sentiment around equity markets weighed on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal and helped limit any deeper losses, at least for the time being.

Focus now shifts to the latest US consumer inflation figures, which is expected to have ticked higher on a y-o-y basis and should provide some fresh impetus during the early NA session.

Technical levels to watch

Any subsequent retracement below 109.40 immediate support now seems to drag the pair further towards retesting the 109.10-109.00 important horizontal support. On the upside, the 110.00 mark remains a key hurdle and is followed by the very important 200-day SMA resistance near the 110.20 region.