JGBs edge lower on profit-booking, shrug-off dovish comments from BoJ Governor Kuroda

The Japanese government bonds edged slightly lower Friday as investors booked profits on the last trading day of the week, besides, shrugging-off the dovish comments from the Bank of Japan’s Governor Haruhiko Kuroda.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 basis point to 0.03 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note hovered around 0.70 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year remained tad lower at -0.15 percent by 05:10 GMT.

Weakness in the JGBs is underlined by ever dovish comments from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kuroda. Kuroda said earlier on Thursday that “the BoJ will maintain QQE (Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing) with yield curve control for as long as needed to achieve 2 percent inflation in stable manner” which comes in-line with current monetary policy guidelines and is not as much as a surprise for the market, however enough to keep the yen from rising in the current environment.

Kuroda further said Japan’s economy will continue expanding moderately as rising household income drives up spending.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index traded 0.73 percent higher at 21,816.50 by 05:05 GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained highly bearish at -109.85 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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