Futures Provide Weak Point

Cash JGBs trade little changed to ~1.5bp cheaper across the curve, with 7s providing the weakest point on the curve, aided by the extension of the overnight sell off in JGB futures, with the latter hitting the Tokyo lunch bell 16 ticks lower than yesterday’s settlement, a little off worst levels of the day. Note that JGBs with 10+ years to maturity are actually little changed on the session, with the weakness relatively concentrated in the front end/belly.

• Local headline flow has been relatively light outside of the previously outlined budget surplus target stories in the local press, which resulted in Finance Minister Suzuki stressing that there was no change to the government's goal of balancing the primary budget for fiscal 2025.
• Elsewhere, local data revealed a modest downtick for the unemployment rate, softer than expected industrial production data and generally in line, to slightly firmer than expected retail sales readings.
• 2-Year JGB supply headlines this afternoon.