Bear-Steepening Scaled Back In The Tokyo Afternoon, US NFP Due

JGB futures are weaker, -9 compared to settlement levels, but well off the Tokyo session's low. The key driver for the morning’s extension of yesterday’s post-30Y auction sell-off had been labour and real cash earnings data, which printed on the higher side of expectations.

• Bloomberg also reported that JGB futures were heavy today with traders using the rollover into the March contract as a window to refresh bearish positions for an extended drive lower. (See link ICYMI)
• The move away from session cheaps in the afternoon session was consistent with results from today’s BOJ Rinban Operations, which showed lower offer cover ratios across all buckets.
• US tsys are dealing 1-2bps cheaper in today’s Asia-Pac session ahead of US NFP data later today.
• This morning's bear-steepening of the cash JGB curve remains in play, but yields are well below session highs. The benchmark 10-year yield is 1.0bps higher at 0.769% versus the morning high of 0.808%.
• The swaps curve has also maintained its bear-steepening, with rates 2-5bps higher. Swap spreads are wider.
• On Monday, the local calendar sees M2 & M3 Money Stock, BSI Large All Industry and Machine Tool Orders data.