Futures Off Lows During The Morning, Reaction To Abe News Eyed At Re-Open

JGB futures coiled during the Tokyo morning, hitting the lunch bell -23 after recovering an initial showing below the overnight session trough, generally following the broader ebbs and flows surrounding the wider core global FI space. Cash JGBs were mixed, running 0.5bp richer to 1.0bp cheaper across the curve. There wasn’t much in the way of pre-lunch news flow to digest for the space, outside of soft household spending data.

• However, since the start of the Tokyo lunch break wires have noted that former Japanese PM Abe was shot in Nara, Japan. He has since been rushed to hospital, reportedly unconscious and in cardio-respiratory arrest.
• JPY crosses have ticked lower as a result, with U.S. Tsys bid, while e-minis and Nikkei 225 futures traded on the backfoot.
• Will Japanese markets start pricing in the potential removal of Abe’s influence from the Japanese policymaking sphere, after the additional risk-off impulses subside?