JGBs gain in muted trading session ahead of BoJ’s monetary policy decision

The Japanese government bonds remained higher at the time of closing Monday amid a muted trading session that witnessed data of little economic significance ahead of the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy meeting, scheduled to be held on April 25.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, slumped 3 basis points to -0.029 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year slipped nearly 1 basis point to 0.581 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year plunged 15 basis points to -0.149 percent by 05:50GMT.

Asian markets may see a muted session today post-Easter holiday, with investors awaiting fresh market catalysts in the form of corporate earnings and economic prints amid the shadow cast by yesterday’s Sri Lanka terrorist attacks. Last Thursday, S&P500 had closed slightly firmer, while the 10-year UST bond yield fell 3bps to 2.56 percent, OCBC Treasury Research reported.

Further, in China’s April politburo meeting, the top policy making bodies reckoned that the economy is better than expected in Q1. It dropped the phrases on six stability (stable job, stable finance, stable external demand, stable foreign investment, stable investment and stable expectation) in the statement, the report added.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index traded 0.60 percent higher at 22,224.00, while at 06:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained slightly bullish at 88.30 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex