AIRLINK 62.48 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (3.39%)
BOP 5.36 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.19%)
CNERGY 4.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.02 (-0.43%)
DFML 15.50 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (4.45%)
DGKC 66.40 Increased By ▲ 1.60 (2.47%)
FCCL 17.59 Increased By ▲ 0.73 (4.33%)
FFBL 27.70 Increased By ▲ 2.95 (11.92%)
FFL 9.27 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (2.32%)
GGL 10.06 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1%)
HBL 105.70 Increased By ▲ 1.49 (1.43%)
HUBC 122.30 Increased By ▲ 4.78 (4.07%)
HUMNL 6.60 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.92%)
KEL 4.50 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-1.1%)
KOSM 4.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-1.97%)
MLCF 36.20 Increased By ▲ 0.79 (2.23%)
OGDC 122.92 Increased By ▲ 0.53 (0.43%)
PAEL 23.00 Increased By ▲ 1.09 (4.97%)
PIAA 29.34 Increased By ▲ 2.05 (7.51%)
PIBTL 5.80 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-2.36%)
PPL 107.50 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.12%)
PRL 27.25 Increased By ▲ 0.74 (2.79%)
PTC 18.07 Increased By ▲ 1.97 (12.24%)
SEARL 53.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.63 (-1.17%)
SNGP 63.21 Increased By ▲ 2.01 (3.28%)
SSGC 10.80 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.47%)
TELE 9.20 Increased By ▲ 0.71 (8.36%)
TPLP 11.44 Increased By ▲ 0.86 (8.13%)
TRG 70.86 Increased By ▲ 0.95 (1.36%)
UNITY 23.62 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (0.47%)
WTL 1.28 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 6,944 Increased By 65.8 (0.96%)
BR30 22,827 Increased By 258.6 (1.15%)
KSE100 67,142 Increased By 594.3 (0.89%)
KSE30 22,090 Increased By 175.1 (0.8%)

TOKYO: Japanese government bond prices gained sharply on Friday, with yields hitting three-year lows, on broad concerns about the U.S.-China trade war, even as the Bank of Japan cut its purchase of long-dated bonds to deter excessive falls in yields.

The BOJ cut its buying of Japanese government bonds with 10 to 25 years to maturity by 20 billion yen ($188.8 million) to 160 billion yen, from 180 billion yen in previous operations since July.

The move came as the 10-year Japanese government bond yields fell below minus 0.200%.

The BOJ has said it roughly defines its policy target of "around zero percent" for the 10-year yield as 20 basis points above or below zero percent.

The cut in JGB purchase on Friday is considered to be a technical move to keep the 10-year yields in line with the current target.

Still reducing asset purchase at a time when many central banks in the world are easing their monetary policies highlights the BOJ's lack of policy ammunition after building up a massive balance sheet and cutting interest rates to negative levels.

Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.32 point to a record close of 154.73, extending gains even after the BOJ's operation.

Although U.S. Treasuries fell on Thursday as calm returned to U.S. equity markets, many investors are flocking to the safety of bonds as they see no clear end to U.S.-China trade woes, which intensified further this week.

The 10-year JGB yield fell 3 bps to minus 0.225%, a three-year low. On the week, it was down 5 bps, the biggest fall since December.

The 20-year JGB yield fell 3.5 bps to 0.095%, while the 30-year JGB yield fell 4 bps to 0.220%. For the week, they were down 8.5 and 10 bps respectively, both the biggest drop in about three years.

At the shorter end of the market, the five-year JGB yield  fell 2 bps to a three-year low of minus 0.305%, while the two-year JGB yield fell 3 bps to a 2-1/2-year low of minus 0.275%.

Copyright Reuters, 2019
 

Comments

Comments are closed.