TOKYO: Japanese government bonds edged slightly down on Wednesday ahead of the next day's 20-year auction, but moved off their session lows as a slump in equities lent appeal to safe-haven government debt.
The Nikkei stock index was down 2.7 percent in afternoon trade.
The benchmark 10-year yield inched half a basis point higher to 0.215 percent, though it remained close to a record low of 0.190 percent touched last week and it pulled away from a session high of 0.220 percent.
March 10-year JGB futures nosed up 0.01 point to 149.57 in afternoon trade, up from a morning session low of 149.49.
The yield on the 20-year JGB was flat at 0.925 percent down from a session high of 0.935 percent ahead of Thursday's monthly 20-year JGB auction by the Ministry of Finance.
The Bank of Japan offered to buy 400 billion yen ($3.42 billion) of JGBs in the one-year to three-year zone, 420 billion yen of JGBs in the three-year to five-year zone, and 450 billion yen of JGBs in the five-year to 10-year zone, under its asset purchase programme.
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