•  JPY weighed down by Kuroda’s comments.
   •  Fading safe-haven demand lends additional support.
   •  Will bulls be able to capitalize on the up-move?

After yesterday's brief pause, the USD/JPY pair caught some fresh bids on Thursday and is currently placed at session tops near the 109.75-80 region. 

The pair initially dropped back to the 109.00 neighborhood but quickly rebounded after the BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, while speaking in the Japanese parliament, reaffirmed that the central bank will continue powerful quantitative easing to achieve price stability. 

Adding to this, continuous improvement in investors' risk appetite, as depicted by positive trading sentiment around equity markets, further dented the Japanese Yen's safe-haven appeal. This along with a follow-through US Dollar buying interest remained supportive of the  pair's strong bid tone.

It, however, remains to be seen if bulls are able to capitalize on the early up-move or the bullish run fizzles out ahead of the key 110.00 psychological mark. 

In absence of any major economic data from the US, broader market risk sentiment and the USD price dynamics might continue to act as key determinants of the pair's movement on Thursday.

Technical outlook

Omkar Godbole, Analyst and Editor at FXStreet writes: “The spot is likely to cut through 110.00 levels and test Feb. 2 high of 110.48 in the next 24-36 hours. A daily close below 109.00 would signal short-term bullish invalidation and open up downside towards 108.28 (Jan. 26 low) and 108.00 (psychological level).”