A rapid decline in the yen and market distortions caused by current monetary settings have raised the political heat on the Bank of Japan as it becomes increasingly isolated in a world of hawkish-leaning central banks.
Japanese government bond futures rose on Thursday, as investors sought save-haven assets after Wall Street plunged overnight on fears that surging inflation would eat into corporate profits and trigger an economic slowdown. Benchmark 10-year JGB futures rose 0.05 point to 149.57, with a trading volume of 12,002 lots.
Asian stocks tracked a steep Wall Street selloff on Thursday, as investors fretted over rising global inflation, China's zero-COVID policy and the Ukraine war, while the safe-haven dollar held most of its strong overnight gains. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 2% in early Asian trading hours, the first daily decline in a week.
More than 60% of Japanese companies want the central bank to end its policy of massive monetary easing this fiscal year due to pain from the weak yen, with roughly a quarter calling for it to take action now, a Reuters survey shows.
Japan's industry ministry said on Wednesday it will hold an auction on June 10 to sell 750,000 kilolitres, or 4.7 million barrels, of oil from its national reserve as a part of a release coordinated by the International Energy Agency to cool prices.
* May manufacturers' sentiment index +5 vs April +11. * Manufacturers' mood hits lowest since Feb 2021. * May service sector index +13 vs +8 in April. By Daniel Leussink.
Longer-dated Japanese government bond yields ticked higher on Tuesday as optimism for an end to coronavirus lockdowns in China buoyed market sentiment.
The Bank of Japan must maintain current monetary stimulus to create sustainable increases in prices, corporate profits, jobs and wages, its deputy governor said on Tuesday, dismissing speculation about an early exit from accommodative settings.
Asian shares edged higher on Tuesday despite data reinforcing investor fears the global economic recovery may be more fragile than expected, even as inflationary pressures remain high. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.84% on Tuesday, but is still down the index is down 6.7% so far this month.
Japanese government bond yields were steady in subdued trading on Monday as investors took a wait-and-see stance amid signs U.S. Treasury yields might have peaked. The 10-year JGB yielded 0.24% as of 0555 GMT, unchanged from the end of last week, despite a tick down in equivalent Treasury yields to about 2.91% in Tokyo on Monday, from as high as 3.203% a week ago, a level not seen since late 2018.
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