JGBs flat ahead of BoJ’s September monetary policy meeting minutes

The Japanese government bonds traded flat Monday as investors wait to watch the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting minutes for the month of September, scheduled to be released on September 25 by 23:50GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to its price, traded flat at 0.02 percent, the yield on long-term 30-year also hovered around 0.82 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year too traded steady at -0.14 percent by 04:20 GMT.

Also underpinning JGB market sentiment, the Bank of Japan maintained its policy settings on Thursday, including its loose pledge to keep buying bonds so its holdings increase at an annual pace of 80 trillion yen ($717.6 billion). A new board member argued against the central bank’s view that current policy was sufficient to boost inflation to its target.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Friday he believes the country could consider a hydrogen bomb test of an unprecedented scale in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported.

The report followed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s statement on Friday that Pyongyang will consider the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history” against the United States in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to destroy the isolated nation.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 traded 0.37 percent higher at 20,371.00 by 04:20GMT, while at 04:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Yen Strength Index remained neutral at -45.37 (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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