Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
The Japanese government bonds traded modestly lower Monday, as investors shifted away from safe-haven assets amid a silent trading session that witnessed data of least economic significance and rise in riskier assets including equities and crude oil. Also, investors are curiously eyeing the super-long 3-year bond auction, scheduled to be held on February 9.
The benchmark 10-year bond yield, which moves inversely to its price, hovered around 0.09 percent, while the long-term 30-year bond yields jumped nearly 4 basis points to 0.90 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year note rose nearly 1 basis point to -0.21 percent by 07:00 GMT.
Further, the JGBs have been closely following developments in oil markets because of their impact on inflation expectations. The International benchmark Brent futures moved higher 0.30 percent to USD56.98 and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 0.37 percent to USD54.03 by 10:20 GMT.
Also, the central bank purchased JGBs Friday having residual maturity of 5-10 years worth JPY4.508 billion, maturity of 10-25 years worth JPY1.901 billion and those with maturities of over 25 years worth JPY1.105 billion.
Also, the central bank revised up its estimate of Japan’s real gross domestic product (GDP) to +1.5 percent for FY2017/18, compared to +1.3 percent projected in November, for FY2018/19 at +1.1 percent, against the +0.9 percent projected in November.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed 0.24 percent higher at 18,966 while at 5:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Yen Strength Index remained neutral at 42.83 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
