JGBs mixed ahead of 10-year auction, November household spending data

The Japanese government bonds remained mixed on the first trading day of the week Monday ahead of the country’s 10-year auction and November household spending data, scheduled to be released on January 8 and 10 by 03:35GMT and 23:30GMT respectively.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, fell 1-1/2 basis points to -0.016 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note jumped 2-1/2 basis points to 0.683 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year traded lower by 16-1/2 basis points at -0.164 percent by 05:40GMT.

Japan’s seasonally adjusted Business Activity Index - fell to a three-month low of 51.0 in December, down from 52.3 in November, signalling mild growth of service sector output in Japan. Poor weather and underwhelming sales at some companies weighed on activity growth.

The combination of a more dovish Fed chair Powell and an upside surprise to the December nonfarm payrolls of 312k (market consensus: 184k) lent a more supportive tone to Wall Street on Friday and drove UST bond yields back up. S&P500 rebounded 3.43 percent while the 2-year and 10-year UST bond yields jumped to 2.49 percent and 2.67 percent respectively and oil prices also rose as global risk appetite improved after a weak start to 2019.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index closed 2.45 percent to 20,038.97 by 05:45GMT