Bulls in control near monthly tops, around 109.00 mark

USD/JPY built on this week’s positive move for the third straight session on Thursday.
The near-term technical set-up support prospects for an extension of the positive move.

The USD/JPY pair continued gaining traction for the third consecutive session on Thursday and climbed further beyond the 109.00 mark, hitting fresh monthly tops in the last hour.

A sustained move beyond the previous monthly swing highs, around mid-108.00s, was seen as a key trigger for bullish traders amid a strong bullish sentiment surrounding the USD.

Looking at a slightly broader picture, the recent recovery from multi-year lows has been along a short-term ascending trend-channel, which supports prospects for additional gains.

This coupled with the fact that technical indicators on the daily chart have just started gaining positive momentum further add credence to the near-term constructive outlook.

Currently hovering around 100-day SMA, the pair now seems all set to continue with its appreciating move towards testing its next resistance near the 109.60 horizontal zone.

The momentum could further get extended towards reclaiming the key 110.00 psychological mark en-route the trend-channel resistance, currently near the 110.80-85 region.

On the flip side, the 108.50 level now seems to protect the immediate downside, below which the pair could slide back towards challenging the 108.00 round-figure mark.