The USD/JPY lost some extra weight on the last day of the week and dropped to more than a six-month low,
below the round figure of 106.00, during the Asian session.
Growing market fears about how much the virus outbreak will affect the global economy strongly influenced the investor sentiment. The anxiety became evident as a result of a new wave of risk-reducing trading, which gave a strong push to the JPY's status as a reliable currency and continued to put pressure on the major one.
Apart from the global aspiration for security, strong market expectations that the Fed would again have to cut interest rates by 50 bps for the second time this month led to a drop in US Treasury yields. This eventually increased the dominating bearish pressure around the US dollar and further contributed to the pair's decline.
Market participants are now looking forward to the monthly U.S. employment report, which will be a direct excuse for the bulls to take a break immediately.