TOKYO: Yields on Japan's benchmark 10-year government bonds (JGBs) briefly hit a fresh record low on Wednesday as investors looked to safer assets amid uncertainty about the global and financial fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
The 10-year yield was down half a basis points to minus 0.235 percent by mid-afternoon, after earlier plumbing a record low of minus 0.240 percent.
September 10-year futures ended up 0.09 point at 152.98 after earlier rising to a record high of 153.01.
But other JGBs were mixed, with superlongs giving back some of the gains that pushed yields to record lows in the previous session.
The 20-year JGB yield added 1 basis points to 0.050 percent , while the 30-year JGB yield rose 3.5 basis points to 0.085 percent and the 40-year JGB yield was up 3.5 basis points at 0.100 percent.
Yields in those three maturities had touched record lows of 0.400 percent, 0.050 percent and 0.065 percent, respectively, on Tuesday.
The 2-year JGB yield was flat at minus 0.300 percent , matching the previous session's record low, while the 5-year JGB yield shed 1 basis point to minus 0.315 percent after recording a fresh all-time low of minus 0.320 percent.
The Bank of Japan offered to buy a total of 1.19 trillion yen ($11.63 billion) of JGBs in its asset purchase operations, including 350 billion yen in the 1- to 3-year zone, 440 billion yen in the 3- to 5-year zone, 240 billion yen in the 10- to 25-year zone, and 160 billion yen of JGBs maturing in over 25 years.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday pledged to use all available policy tools to support the economy as financial markets continue to be gripped by uncertainty in the wake of Britain's shock vote to exit the European Union.
"A sense of uncertainty and worry about risks remain in the markets," Abe said at a meeting between the government and the BOJ to discuss market developments in the aftermath of the Brexit vote, which pushed down global bonds.
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