JGBs trade weaker after BoJ board members divided over long-term interest rates, hopes of improvement in Q2 GDP

Japanese government bonds traded weaker Wednesday after the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) monetary policy board members remained divided over long-term interest rates in its July 30-31 meeting Summary of Opinions, released today amid hopes of an improvement in the country’s second-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), scheduled to be released on August 9 by 23:50GMT.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year JGB note, which moves inversely to its price, remained tad higher at 0.112 percent, the yield on the long-term 30-year note rose 1 basis point to 0.862 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year moved 1/2 basis point higher to -0.103 percent by 05:50 GMT.

According to the latest BoJ Summary of Opinions, board members disagreed on how far interest rates should be allowed to deviate from the central bank’s target range when they designed steps to adopt a more sustainable monetary stimulus, Reuters reported.

According to a report from the FXStreet, analysts at Nomura said "We expect gradual growth overall, albeit not to the same extent as through mid-2017, when GDP grew considerably more than the potential growth rate. We expect the global economy to gradually decelerate while avoiding a sharp slowdown, and look for the Japanese economy to continue growing albeit with little sign of an acceleration. We think investors should be aware of additional downside risks to overseas demand in the shape of US trade policy and a sharp slowdown in emerging economies".

Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 index traded flat at 22,667.00 by 05:50 GMT, while at 05:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly JPY Strength Index remained neutral at 74.96 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex