TOKYO: Japanese government bond futures on Friday gained the most since January as yields on cash bonds sagged across the curve after U.S. President Donald Trump broke a truce in the Sino-U.S. trade negotiations, bolstering demand for safe-haven assets.

Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.41 point to 153.95, with a trading volume of 25,206 lots. The rise in JGB futures wiped out declines from the previous session sparked by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ruling out a prolonged series of interest rate cuts.

The 10-year JGB yield fell 4 basis points to minus 0.175%, the lowest yield in six weeks.

At the short end of the curve, benchmark two-year JGB yield  fell 2 basis points to minus 0.210%.

The 20-year JGB yield fell 4.5 basis points to 0.175%.

The 30-year JGB yield dropped 4.5 basis points to 0.320%, the lowest yield in almost six weeks.

The yield curve, or the difference in yields between two-year and 10-year government debt, flattened further on Friday, continuing a trend that started in October last year.

Trump said he would impose an additional 10% tariff on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports on Sept. 1 after U.S. negotiators returned from trade talks in Shanghai, saying China had failed to buy large quantities of U.S. agricultural products as promised.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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