The USD/JPY pair attracted fresh buying in the vicinity of the 135.00 psychological mark on Tuesday and turned positive for the third successive day. The momentum pushed spot prices to a three-day high during the early part of the European session, with bulls now looking to reclaim the 136.00 round figure.
A generally positive tone around the equity markets undermined the Japanese yen and turned out to be a key factor that acted as a tailwind for the USD/JPY pair. The risk-on impulse pushed the US Treasury bond yields higher, which resulted in the widening of the gap between the US-Japanese bond yields. This, along with a big divergence in the monetary policy stance adopted by the Fed (hawkish) and the Bank of Japan (dovish), continued lending support to the major.
Meanwhile the USD, anguished near a one-week low touched on Monday amid reduced bets for aggressive Fed rate hike moves. The recent slump in commodity prices raised hopes that inflation might be nearing its peak and forced investors to reassess expectations that Fed would tighten its monetary policy at a faster pace. This continued weighing on the USD, which might hold back bulls from placing aggressive bets around the USD/JPY pair and cap gains, at least for now.
