JGBs ease slightly; liquidity-enhancing auction draws demand

21 Dec, 2018

The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose 1.5 basis points to 0.040 percent, while 10-year March JGB futures  lost 0.21 points to 152.30, with a trading volume of 33,289 lots.

The super-long zone followed suit, with the 20-year yield  and the 30-year yield each gaining 2.5 basis point, to 0.540 percent and 0.745 percent, respectively.

The finance ministry on Friday offered to sell 600 billion yen ($5.39 billion) of off-the-run JGBs with remaining maturities of 5 years to 15.5 years. The ministry regularly conducts such sales in an attempt to provide the market with liquidity.

The auction bid-to-cover ratio, which gives an indication of demand, came in at 3.12, above a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.58 from the previous auction.

On Thursday, U.S. Treasury yields fell to more than eight-month lows, and the yield curve flattened, as investors evaluated the Federal Reserve's moves to tighten monetary policy.

Copyright Reuters, 2018
 

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