Futures Holding Weaker At Lunch

At the Tokyo lunch break, JGB futures are holding weaker, -9 compared to the settlement levels.

• There hasn’t been much in the way of domestic data drivers to flag, outside of the previously outlined Trade Balance and Jibun Bank PMIs. Tokyo Condominiums for Sale (Feb) data is due later, along with an Enhanced-Liquidity Auction for 5-15.5 year OTR JGBs.
• In addition to earlier comments in Parliament today, which centred around keeping policy easy, BoJ Governor Ueda stated that some of the previous easing measures had side effects. He also expected the BoJ's bond holdings to remain broadly the same and for it to take time for the fate of ETF holdings to be determined.
• The cash JGB curve has twist-flattened, pivoting at the 5s, with yields 1bp higher to 2bps lower. The benchmark 10-year yield is 1bp lower at 0.731% versus the YTD high of 0.801%.
• The swaps curve has bear-flattened, with rates 1-2bps higher. Swap spreads are wider.