JGBs end lower ahead of super-long 30-year auction, April industrial production

The Japanese government bonds closed lower on the second trading day of the week Tuesday ahead of the country’s super-long 30-year auction, scheduled to be held on June 13 by 03:35GMT and industrial production data for the month of April, due on the following day by 04:30GMT for further direction in the debt market.

At close, the yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, improved to -0.112 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year hovered around 0.361 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year rose 4 basis points to -0.190 percent.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) on Tuesday offered to sell JPY600 billion ($5.5 billion) of off-the-run JGBs with remaining maturities of 5 years to 15.5 years; the ministry regularly conducts such sales as it seeks to provide the market with liquidity, Reuters reported.

The auction bid-to-cover ratio, which gives an indication of demand, came in at 3.06, below the previous auction’s bid-to-cover ratio of 3.37, the report added.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index closed 0.33 percent higher at 21,204.28, while at 07:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained slightly bearish at -76.77 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex