USD/JPY last seen at Y109.10,............>

DOLLAR-YEN: USD/JPY last seen at Y109.10, marginally higher on the day, after

finishing a dozen pips better off Tuesday, with JPY sitting well towards the

bottom of the G10 pile.

- The rate knee-jerked higher halfway through Tuesday's Asia-Pac session as

Xinhua reported that top trade reps from the U.S. and China spoke by phone and

plan to keep up communications re: phase-one trade pact. The spike was quickly

retraced as it turned out there was little of substance behind those headlines.

Price action was pretty lacklustre through the rest of the day, with a swing

higher in EU/U.S. hours helped by U.S. Pres Trump's optimistic trade rhetoric.

- Tuesday saw the rate break above its 200-DMA at Y108.94, which shifts bullish

focus to the Nov 7 high of Y109.49. Meanwhile, a return under the 200-DMA would

open up the 50-DMA/Nov 21 trough at Y108.33/28.

- Japanese focus turns to domestic retail sales (Thursday), as well as Tokyo

CPI, unemployment and flash industrial output (Friday). BoJ's Sakurai speaks

later today.