TOKYO, July 14 (Reuters) - Benchmark Japanese government
bond (JGB) yields rose for a second day on Tuesday ahead of a
sale of 20-year bonds that will test investor demand as
inflation concerns mount.
Here are a few details:
* The benchmark 10-year JGB yield rose 1
basis point (bp) to 2.795%. Yields move inversely to bond
prices.
* The Ministry of Finance will sell about 700 billion yen
($4.31 billion) in 20-year bonds later in the session.
* U.S. Treasury yields climbed sharply overnight as
inflation fears were stoked by rising oil prices following
renewed U.S.-Iran tensions.
* "While high yield levels are expected to attract some
buying demand, concerns about inflation and fiscal expansion are
leading investors to adopt a cautious stance," Takayuki
Miyajima, senior economist at Sony Financial Group, said in a
note.
* JGBs rallied sharply on Friday after Finance Minister
Satsuki Katayama suggested that the Government Pension
Investment Fund (GPIF) and other retirement vehicles could be
encouraged to direct more investments into domestic assets.
* Those expectations diminished after a Reuters report that
the government has no immediate plans to change target asset
allocations of its state pension funds.
* The two-year yield, the one most sensitive
to Bank of Japan policy rates, and the five-year yield
both held steady.
($1 = 162.4100 yen)