The Japanese government bonds fell Thursday as investors hope to see an improvement in the country’s industrial production for the month of February, scheduled to be released today by 23:30GMT. However, market participants have largely shrugged-off the lower-than-expected retail sales, thus weighing on asset prices.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, rose nearly 1 basis point to 0.04 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note remained tad higher at 0.74 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded 1 basis point higher at -0.13 percent by 04:40 GMT.
Japan’s retail sales rose 0.4 percent in February, lower than the market forecast of 0.6 percent, as compared to from January when they declined a revised 1.6 percent. Sales increased 1.6 percent from a year ago, vs consensus estimates of 1.7 percent. Further, sales at department stores and supermarkets advanced 0.6 percent from a year earlier (forecast +0.9 percent)
Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index traded 0.25 percent higher at 21,083.50 by 04:45 GMT, while at 04:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained neutral at -66.51 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
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