JGBs mixed in muted trading ahead of long-term 10-year, 30-year auction

The Japanese government bonds remained mixed towards close of Asian session Monday amid a silent trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance, ahead of the country’s long-term 10-year and super-long 3-year bond auctions, scheduled to be held back-to-back on February 6 and 7 by 23:50GMT and 03:35GMT respectively.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, fell a little over 1 basis point to 0.012 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year edged tad higher to 0.606 percent while the yield on short-term 2-year plunged nearly 17 basis points to -0.168 percent by 05:30GMT.

Another blockbuster US’ nonfarm payrolls (NFP) report for January 2019 may finally help put some of the earlier market recession fears to rest.  NFP rose 304k, the largest gain in 11 months and versus consensus forecast of 165k, notwithstanding the partial US government shutdown and with the December data also revised to 222k.

Asian markets may see muted trading today as many Asian markets will be closed for Chinese New Year holidays from tomorrow. US President Donald Trump opined that trade talks with China are “doing very well” and expressed optimism about the upcoming second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un while saying there is “good chance” he will declare a national emergency for his wall funding. Trump and Xi are considering meeting on 27-29 February at Da Nang, Vietnam, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index closed 0.44 percent higher at 20,879.00 by 05:35GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained neutral at 61.96 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex