JGBs fall on hopes of improvement in February industrial production; shrug-off lower-than-expected retail sales

The Japanese government bonds fell Thursday as investors hope to see an improvement in the country’s industrial production for the month of February, scheduled to be released today by 23:30GMT. However, market participants have largely shrugged-off the lower-than-expected retail sales, thus weighing on asset prices.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 basis point to 0.04 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note remained tad higher at 0.74 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded 1 basis point higher at -0.13 percent by 04:40 GMT.

Japan’s retail sales rose 0.4 percent in February, lower than the market forecast of 0.6 percent, as compared to from January when they declined a revised 1.6 percent. Sales increased 1.6 percent from a year ago, vs consensus estimates of 1.7 percent. Further, sales at department stores and supermarkets advanced 0.6 percent from a year earlier (forecast +0.9 percent)

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index traded 0.25 percent higher at 21,083.50 by 04:45 GMT, while at 04:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained neutral at -66.51 (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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