Yen At Bottom Of G10 Table In Limited Asia Trade

USD/JPY touched session lows around the Tokyo fix, before recovering, but the cross has stuck to a sub-20 pip range last dealing ~15 pips higher on the day, just shy of Y109.90.• JPY finds itself at the bottom of the G10 FX table into European hours, with the yen struggling in the second half of Tokyo trade on the back of news that U.S. President Biden held a phone call with Chinese counterpart Xi. There was lack of deeper details surrounding the call, which was described as "candid," while the two have seemingly committed to increased levels of direct communication moving forwards. Buoyant Tokyo equity trade would have also weighed on the JPY. • This comes after the pullback in U.S. Tsy yields and a modest downtick on Wall St. weighed on the rate on Thursday.• There is a lack of tier 1 risk events on the docket during the final session of the week, which may mean that broader perceptions surrounding the Biden-Xi call drive broader risk appetite and the JPY.• Our technical analyst has noted that USD/JPY returned to the lower end of its range on Thursday. The outlook is unchanged, and a near-term bearish risk remains present. A key support lies at the Aug 4 low and bear trigger (Y108.72). For bulls, the level to break is the Aug 11 high (Y110.80).• The following round of expiries will be worth noting come the 10AM NY cut: Y110.00-10 ($1.2bn).