USD/JPY drops below 109.80 after uninspiring US data

• US Dollar Index edges lower after dismal data.
• 10-year US Treasury bond yield extends slide on Friday.
• Coming up: UoM Consumer Confidence data from US.

The USD/JPY pair lost nearly 15 pips with the initial reaction to Retail Sales and Industrial Production data from the US and touched a session low of 109.75 before recovering slightly. As of writing, the pair was trading at 109.78, down 0.03% on a daily basis.

DXY turns south after US data

The data published by the US Census Bureau on Friday revealed that Retail Sales in January increased by 0.3%. Although this reading matched the market expectation, further details of the report showed that the Retail Sales Control Group slumped to 0% and fell short of analysts' estimate of +0.3% to weigh on the greenback.

According to the Federal Reserve's monthly report, Industrial Production in the US contracted 0.3% in January compared to experts' forecast for a decline of 0.2%.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which touched a fresh multi-month high of 99.16 earlier in the day, lost its traction in the early American session and was last down 0.08% on the day at 99.03.

In the meantime, the 10-year US Treasury bond yield is down 2.4% on the day to force the pair to stay in the negative territory. Investors will also be watching the University of Michigan's Consumer Confidence Index data Wall Street's performance in the remainder of the session. 

Technical levels to watch for

USD/JPY