The USD/JPY pair traded with a mild positive bias through the European session and was last seen hovering near the top end of its daily range, around the 105.65 region. The pair gained some traction on the last day of the week and built on the previous day's late rebound from weekly lows, around the 105.30 region. A goodish pickup in the US dollar demand was seen as one of the key factors lending some support to the USD/JPY pair. However, a combination of negative factors might hold investors from placing any aggressive bets and keep a lid on any further gains, at least for the time being.
The global risk sentiment took a hit on Friday after the US President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders that would ban any US transactions with the Chinese companies that own TikTok and WeChat. The anti-risk flow was evident from a weaker trading sentiment around the equity markets, which might force investors to take refuge in traditional safe-haven assets and underpin demand for the Japanese yen.