JGBs slump ahead of March trade balance data, April manufacturing PMI

The Japanese government bonds slumped Tuesday as investors wait to watch the country’s trade balance data for the month of March, scheduled to be released on April 20. Also, the country’s manufacturing PMI for the month of April is awaited for detailed direction in the debt market.

The benchmark 10-year bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 basis point to 0.01 percent, the long-term 30-year bond yields jumped nearly 3 basis points to 0.77 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year note stood steady at -0.21 percent by 05:50 GMT.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, in his latest speech delivered yesterday, said that there is need to continue with policy easing till the central bank’s 2 percent inflation goal is reached, which indeed, seems a long way to go. Further, Kuroda said that the BOJ needs to closely monitor consumer prices because they are lacking some upward momentum.

Further, Japanese stocks eked out small gains in thin and choppy trade on Monday, with retail investors hunting for small-to-mid cap stocks in the absence of foreign investors due to the Easter holiday.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.26 percent higher at 18,403 by 05:50GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Yen Strength Index remained highly bearish at -124.23 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex