FxWirePro: USD/JPY holds marginal gains in the European session, rising covid cases keep dollar bid

Chart - Courtesy Trading View 

USD/JPY was trading 0.09% higher on the day at 114.43 at around 05:15 GMT, outlook is bullish for the day. 

As the highly transmissible variant is causing COVID-19 case numbers to surge across the world, demand for US dollar remains intact.

Data released earlier on Monday showed Japan retail sales rose faster than expected in November, but yen remained unimpressed. 

Retail sales gained 1.9% in November from a year earlier, better than economists' forecast for a 1.7% gain and compared to the 0.9% advance in October.

Details of the report showed fuel sales rose 29.2% in November from a year earlier, amid soaring commodity prices, boosting the overall retail trend. 

Car sales fell 14.1% due to supply bottlenecks and electronics sales declined 10.6% with diminishing demand for stay-at-home appliances.

On a month-on-month basis, retail sales increased 1.2% in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a downwardly revised 1.0% rise in October.

Technical bias for the pair is bullish. Price action is above major moving averages, momentum is bullish and volatility is high.

Price action is extending gains for the 4th straight week, has bounced off daily cloud support. Scope for test of yearly highs at 115.52.