TOKYO, July 16 (Reuters) - Japanese government bond (JGB)
yields rose on Thursday as escalating U.S.-Iran tensions drove
oil prices higher, fuelling inflation concerns and adding to
persistent worries about Japan's fiscal health.
Here are a few details:
* The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose 0.5
basis point (bp) to 2.690%. Yields move inversely to bond
prices.
* Oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive session after a
new wave of U.S. strikes on Iranian military installations
fuelled fears of renewed full-scale conflict and supply
disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
* The 30-year yield added 5 bps
to 3.805%. The 20-year JGB yield climbed 1.5 bps
to 3.55%, pulling back from an earlier rise of 3 basis points.
* Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday
that she saw no link between her government's draft economic
blueprint and a recent rout in the JGB market.
* "The government has recently been taking steps to respond
to rising interest rates, but there still appears to be some
distance between the issues the market is concerned about and
the government's own perception of the situation," Keisuke
Tsuruta, senior bond strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley
Securities, said in a note.
* "Lingering concerns over fiscal expansion and increased
JGB issuance are likely to keep market participants cautious,"
Tsuruta added.
* The 2-year yield, which is most sensitive to
Bank of Japan policy rates, increased 0.5 bp to 1.435%. The
5-year yield rose 0.5 bp to 1.94%.
* U.S. Treasury yields declined overnight after data showed
the Producer Price Index for final demand dropped 0.3% last
month, below the estimate of economists.
* U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh brushed aside a
view that massive investment on AI is inflationary on Wednesday,
a day after saying the central bank had "no tolerance for
persistently elevated inflation."
* "This appeared to balance out the previous day's hawkish
testimony, and may also have somewhat tempered expectations for
an early rate hike," said Hiroshi Watanabe, chief economist at
Sony Financial Group.