TOKYO: Japanese government bonds were steady in thin trade on Wednesday in the waning days of the year, while prices of longer maturities edged down slightly as the Bank of Japan adjusted its purchases in its bond-buying operations.
A senior BOJ official said the buying adjustment marked a return to the status quo, after the central bank increased its purchases earlier this month to address rising yields.
"After the increase in the middle of this month, taking into consideration the fact that the sudden rise in interest rates has stopped and they have stabilized, we returned the level of buying to where it was before the increase," the official said.
The BOJ offered to buy 110 billion yen ($935.22 million) of JGBs with over 25 years left to maturity and 190 billion yen of JGBs with between 10 and 25 years left to maturity.
On Dec. 14, the BOJ had offered to buy 120 billion yen of JGBs with over 25 years left to maturity, and 200 billion yen of JGBs with between 10 and 25 years left to maturity.
A BOJ official said the Dec. 14 increase was aimed at steering the JGB yield curve toward what the central band deems appropriate, and that the move took into account recent rapid rises in super-long yields and the possibility of further volatility.
The benchmark 10-year yield was flat on the day at 0.060 percent, while 10-year JGB futures were up 0.09 point at 149.91 in early afternoon trading.
The 20-year yield added 1 basis point (bp) to 0.580 percent, while the 30-year yield also added 1 bp to 0.690 percent.
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