USD/JPY consolidates near three-month tops, just below 114.00 handle

The USD/JPY pair seems to have entered a bullish consolidation phase and has been oscillating in a narrow trading range, below the 114.00 handle, since early European session. 

The pair witnessed a bullish opening gap at the start of a new trading week and touched a three-month high after the Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's ruling party scored a big win in Sunday's election. The outcome was on expected lines and hence, the initial up-move lacked any strong follow through momentum beyond the 114.00 handle. 

Even a fresh wave of global risk aversion trade, which tends to weigh on the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal, and a goodish pickup in the US Treasury bond yields, underpinning the US Dollar demand, did little to provide any fresh bullish impetus to the major. 

In absence of any fresh fundamental developments and absent macroeconomic releases, possibilities of some profit taking, especially after the pair's recent rally in excess of 235-pips over the past 6-days, seems to be only factor keeping a lid any further up-move. 

Investors now look forward to this week's key US macro data - durable goods orders on Wednesday and Friday's Q3 GDP growth figures, before positioning for the pair's next leg of directional move. 

Technical levels to watch

Immediate support remains near mid-113.00s, below which the corrective slide could get extended towards back towards the 113.00 handle en-route 112.80 horizontal support. 

On the upside, the 114.00 handle now becomes immediate resistance, which if conquered should accelerate the up-move towards July monthly highs resistance near mid-114.00s ahead of the key 115.00 psychological mark.