Downtick In Post-Tokyo Trade Ahead Of The Weekend

In post-Tokyo trade ahead of the weekend, JGB futures closed -7 compared to settlement levels. US Tsys reversed early session strength to close moderately weaker in NY trade on Friday. The move from session highs was assisted by S&P US Manufacturing and Services PMIs for April beating expectations.

• It is a quiet start to a week with no domestic data scheduled for release today. However, the BoJ policy decision on Friday dominates the market's attention. With the economy still seen as too weak and the 2% inflation not secure, the BoJ meeting, the first under Governor Kazuo Ueda, is expected to leave the YCC setting unchanged. There is some speculation that Governor Ueda could shift forward guidance to neutral, allowing more options going forward.
• Elsewhere, Sankei reported that the meeting will see the Bank start its broader assessment of its ultra-loose monetary policy settings, although a Nikkei source noted that "we have not had any discussions yet about dates or the methodology" of such a review.
• Before that decision, the local calendar is relatively heavy with Tokyo CPI, Retail Sales and Industrial Production data providing the highlights (all due Friday), as well as 2-year JGB supply on Wednesday.