Early Moves Hold, Policymaker Rhetoric Fails To Move Needle

JGBs operated largely in line with the levels sketched out in our previous update come the lunch bell, so we don’t need to add much more colour there.

• In terms of domestic headline flow we have seen comments from BoJ Governor Kuroda, who once again noted the need for continued monetary easing as the BoJ looks to achieve its inflation goal. He also noted that such persistence will result in continued stable economic growth for Japan.
• Elsewhere, Finance Minister Suzuki pointed to the need to support companies in a tough environment, while local news wires have outlined plans for a monthly handout of Y5,000/child for families in Tokyo.
• The recently released breakdown of today’s unscheduled BoJ Rinban operations revealed cover ratios of 3.4-4.1x, which may create some light selling pressure in the early rounds of Tokyo afternoon dealing, although we must remember that the purchase sizes covering 5- to 25-Year JGBs were halved vs. the prior round of unscheduled run of purchases, skewing the optics a little.