The Japanese government bonds trended modestly lower Wednesday, tracking weakness in U.S. Treasuries amid a surge in equities as investors moved away from safe-haven assets after the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen concluded a hawkish testimony released later yesterday.
The benchmark 10-year bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 0.09 percent, the long-term 30-year bond yields rose over 1 basis point to 0.90 percent and the yield on the short-term 1-year note also traded 1/2 basis point higher at -0.28 percent by 05:40 GMT.
"Ongoing gains in the labor market have been accompanied by a further moderate expansion in economic activity. U.S. real gross domestic product is estimated to have risen 1.9 percent last year, the same as in 2015. Consumer spending has continued to rise at a healthy pace, supported by steady income gains, increases in the value of households’ financial assets and homes, favorable levels of consumer sentiment, and low interest rates," Yellen said in her prepared testimony.
Further, the German bunds have been closely following developments in oil markets because of their impact on inflation expectations. The International benchmark Brent futures moved higher 0.68 percent to USD55.97 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.60 percent to USD53.25 by 05:50 GMT.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 1.12 percent higher to trade at 19,455, while at 5:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Yen Strength Index remained highly bearish at -121.60 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
