USD/JPY steadies below 108, looks to finish the day more than 1% lower

• US Dollar Index reverses majority of Wednesday's gains.
• Major equity indexes in the U.S. lose more than 2%.
• 10-year T-bond yield plummets to lowest level since January 2018.

Although the USD/JPY pair was able to pull away from the 9-month low that was set following the flash-crash in the FX markets, it failed to stay above the 108 mark and was last seen down 1.23% on a daily basis at 107.75.

The broad-based bearish pressure surrounding the greenback in the second half of the day and a sharp drop in Treasury bond yields didn't allow the pair to extend its rebound. Dragged lower by the disappointing Manufacturing PMI data published by the ISM on Thursday, the US Dollar Index touched a daily low of 96.20 and started to consolidate its daily losses. At the moment, the DXY is losing 0.38% on the day at 96.30.

• US: ISM Manufacturing PMI plummets to 54.1 in December vs 57.9 expected.

Meanwhile, the 10-year T-bond yield is at its lowest level since January of 2018, down more than 4% on the day, and keeping the selling pressure intact on the positively correlated USD/JPY pair. Furthermore, all three major indexes in the U.S. remain on track to post daily losses of more than 2% to confirm that investors continue to stay away from riskier assets.

Nikkei Manufacturing PMI will be released from Japan in the Asian session on Friday but investors are more likely to react to the nonfarm payroll report from the U.S. later in the day.

Technical levels to consider