Futures Tight, Curve Flatter

JGB futures held a narrow range during the morning session, with futures hitting the break 3 ticks above yesterday's settlement levels, while the long end of the cash curve continued to benefit from expectations surrounding a lower JGB issuance burden vs. what some had feared.

• The BoJ left the size of its 1-10 Year JGB purchases unchanged, with the following offer/cover ratios seen:
• 1-3 Year: 2.33x (prev. 2.77x)
• 3-5 Year: 1.67x (prev. 2.82x)
• 5-10 Year: 2.03x (prev. 2.51x)
• Elsewhere, Japanese Finance Minister Aso noted that the country is likely to miss is estimated tax revenue for the current FY, although this will come as no surprise, with the local press already flagging the issue earlier this week. The Nikkei suggested that the current FY tax revenues are set for the biggest miss vs. expectations since '09.
• On the COVID front, Economy Minister Nishimura noted that a gov't panel will discuss vaccine distribution priorities and matters surrounding the general public's return to hometowns around the new year period. Also on the COVID front, the Asahi suggested that an expert gov't advisory panel will once again call for the suspension of the Go-To travel campaign in areas hit by major COVID major outbreaks.