Core FI Mixed In Asia, BoJ Related Matters Steal The Headlines

Cash Tsys sit unchanged to a touch firmer as we move into European hours, with the curve seeing some light bull flattening (30s sit 2.0bp richer on the day). The first round of U.S. President Biden's infrastructure plan held nothing in the way of meaningful surprises, while late Wednesday trade saw a contained round of month-end related vol. There has been very little of note on the headline front in Asia, outside of a softer than expected Chinese Caixin m'fing PMI print and some production issues for the J&J COVID vaccine at one plant, although the company has noted that it doesn't expect any interruptions to its delivery schedule. T-Notes in a narrow 0-04+ range, last +0-03 at 132-01. The ISM m'fing survey headlines the local economic docket on Thursday.

• The JGB space played catch up to the BoJ's April Rinban plan in early Tokyo trade, after the Bank noted that it will remove Y550bn of conventional JGB purchases in April vs. March, with some pre-auction concession also built in. There was some respite in the wake of the latest 10-Year JGB auction, which saw the low price top dealer estimates, with the tail narrowing and cover ratio moving higher, although the latter continues to operate within the lower end of its recent range, with the metric observed at last month's auction providing a low bar to hurdle given the fact that it represented a multi-year low. JGB futures -14 on the day, with the cash curve a little steeper (30s provide the weak point, cheapening by 2.0bp on the day).
• The Aussie bond space reversed its overnight losses, aided by the light firming in the longer end of the Tsy curve. YM +1.0, XM +0.5 at typing, while cash ACGBs sit unchanged to 1.0bp firmer on the day. There has been nothing in the way of a meaningful reaction to a relatively packed local data docket and vanilla weekly issuance slate from the AOFM.