Key 10-Year JGB Yield Hits 27-Year High of 2.490 Pct

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)–The yield on the most recent issue of 10-year Japanese government bonds, regarded as the country’s benchmark long-term interest rate, briefly rose to as high as 2.490 pct in Tokyo morning trading Monday. The reading was the highest since February 1999, when the key 10-year JGB yield spiked to 2.440 pct as investors were taken aback by the news that the Finance Ministry’s now-defunct Trust Fund Bureau decided to halt purchases of outstanding JGBs from the market. Meanwhile, the country’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average gave up over 600 points to stand at 56,287.62 soon after the opening of Monday’s trading. The index of 225 selected issues listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Prime section recouped some of the loss later and was at 56,563.11 as of 9:52 a.m., down 361.00 points, or 0.63 pct, from Friday’s closing. The yen also came under selling in Tokyo foreign exchange trading. At 10 a.m., the dollar stood at 159.70-71 yen, up from 159.34-34 yen at 5 p.m. Friday. JGBs, Tokyo stocks and the Japanese currency were hit by selling amid persisting uncertainty over the Middle East after the United States and Iran failed to reach a deal in their two-day talks held in Islamabad through Sunday to end their fighting. With U.S. President Donald Trump saying after the negotiations that the United States would begin a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil chokepoint, an official of a midsize securities house remarked, “The (Middle East) situation remains chaotic, denting investor appetite.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]