TOKYO, May 29 (Reuters) - Super-long Japanese government
bond prices fell on Thursday as a lack of details about the
Ministry of Finance's issuance plans weighed on sentiment.
The 20-year JGB yield rose 2.5 basis points
(bps) to 2.42% and the 30-year JGB yield rose 5
bps to 2.95%.
Bond yields move inversely to prices.
The yields on the super-long-dated bonds plunged on Tuesday
from last week's record highs, after Reuters reported that the
finance ministry was considering reducing its sales of
super-long bonds.
"Expectations are rising that there will be a cut in the
sale of those bonds, but they can not actively buy the bonds
without a clear picture of the reduction," said Naoya Hasegawa,
chief bond strategist at Okasan Securities.
The auction of 40-year bonds on Wednesday witnessed a weak
outcome after the bond rally made the bonds look expensive.
However, Societe Generale said in its note that the selling
pressure on the long-end JGBs will abate as pension funds'
rebalancing will support demand for ultra-long-term bonds.
Attention has been shifted to an auction of two-year bonds
in the next session.
Okasan's Hasegawa expects the auction will see relatively
firm results even as Reuters reported the reduction in bonds
with super-long maturities would be counterbalanced by increased
sales of shorter-dated bonds.
"That would pressure yields on two-year bonds in the future,
but if you have to keep buying JGBs and want to avoid duration
risks, you would choose two-year bonds," Hasegawa said.
The two-year JGB yield rose 0.5 bp to 0.75%.
The five-year yield fell 1 bp to 1.03%.