By TOKYO, Dec 9 Reuters Japanese government bond prices were largely unchanged on Wednesday as investors avoided taking big positions ahead of an auction of 20year debt and the European Central Bank meeting later this week.
Benchmark 10year JGB futures barely moved at 152.1, with a trading volume of 30,534 lots, while the 10year JGB yield stood flat at 0.015.
In the superlong zone, the 20year JGB yield gained half a basis point to 0.380.
The 30year JGB yield fell half a basis point to 0.625 and the 40year JGB yield dropped 1 basis point to 0.670, both hitting their lowest levels since Nov. 19.
At the shorter end of the curve, the twoyear JGB yield was flat at minus 0.140, while the fiveyear yield was untraded.
The Japanese Ministry of Finance will reopen October issue on Thursday, offering 1.2 trillion yen worth of 20year JGBs.
The ECB is expected to extend its Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme and its now regular Asset Purchase Programme as policymakers meet on Thursday to keep borrowing costs ultralow for governments, companies and households in the euro zone.
Reporting by Tokyo markets team; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.
Source Reuters
