Headlines:USD/JPY surge meets a pause so far on the weekNo reprieve for the euro as 2020 low eyedCable plummets further, falls below 1.2700 to fresh lows since September 2020US futures dribble lower to start the sessionOil and gold face near similar technical configurationsJapan PM Kishida: Rapid FX moves are undesirableBOJ to purchase unlimited amounts of 10-year JGBs at 0.25% on 27-28 AprilECB’s Kazaks says prefers first rate hike to come in JulyMarkets:JPY leads, GBP lags on the dayEuropean equities higher; S&P 500 futures down 0.4%US 10-year yields down 4.9 bps to 2.775%Gold up 0.3% to $1,903.62WTI up 0.6% to $99.12Bitcoin up 0.7% to $40,475It is a bit of a mixed session as we see bond yields retreat after a bit of a rise earlier in the day. The drop in yields comes alongside a fall in US futures as well, in which we saw S&P 500 futures erase gains of 0.3% to be down by 0.4% now. Safety flows perhaps or maybe some month-end moves for the bond market after the relentless selling in April?European stocks are mostly higher but that owes to a catch up play to the sharp bounce in US equities yesterday, so it isn’t really a strong indicator of risk sentiment at the moment.In FX, things are looking more mixed with the yen firming across the board while the dollar is trading in the middle of the pack. The euro and the pound are the weakest currencies with EUR/USD dribbling below 1.0700 from around 1.0720 at the start of the session. The pair is trading at the lows now close to 1.0670, eyeing the 2020 low of 1.0635.GBP/USD is also seeing another down day, falling 0.4% to 1.2685 as sellers continue to keep the pressure towards the September 2020 low of 1.2675.Meanwhile, USD/JPY is seen easing lower from 128.00 to 127.50-60 levels as buyers and sellers continue to duke it out in between the key hourly moving averages here.The aussie and the kiwi are among the better performers with AUD/USD up 0.3% to 0.7200 and NZD/USD up 0.2% to 0.6630 but the gains aren’t amounting to much as compared to the drop in recent days.

Well, in terms of sentiment, not much has changed since my post last week here.I outlined why cable is struggling and the same mood is persisting as we get into the new week. The drop below the 50.0 retracement level @ 1.2830 sees sellers open up the next leg lower and that is towards the 1.2700 level now. The September 2020 low @ 1.2675 is also a key one to watch as a break below this region sets out the next push towards 1.2500 with the 61.8 retracement level sitting @ 1.2495.Month-end flows might make it a bit more tricky but given that the usual suspects will still be at play until the Fed next week, I continue to maintain the view that sterling might not see much reprieve in the meantime.